Hospice waits on a court order when no family can speak for you
The Podcast by KevinMD; 10/8/26
A man is dying. He cannot speak, and no one in his life can say what he would have wanted. Kirsten Engel is a palliative medicine physician, and Medha Tripathi is a health writer and incoming Fulbright research scholar. This episode is based on their article “Guardianship and hospice care fail dying patients,” published on KevinMD. They explain what happens when a patient has no family and no health care proxy, and a court appoints a guardian who has never met them. A move to comfort measures then needs a court date that can take weeks, while the hospital works in hours and days.
Publisher's note: How often do hospices serve patients with no family and/or health care proxy? What challenges do you face? What solutions are available?

Where can Americans access palliative care? New national initiative aims to find out
Globe Newswire; by Elizabeth Dowling; 10/14/26
Where can people living with serious illness access specialty palliative care in the United States, and where is that care still out of reach? Today, there is no comprehensive national source showing where specialty palliative care is available across both hospital and community settings. The Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) is working to change that with the launch of the Palliative Care Program Inventory (Program Inventory), a national initiative to map where specialty palliative care programs operate and where gaps in access remain. The Program Inventory will collect information directly from specialty palliative care programs nationwide, including data on staffing, patient volume, and care delivery models. The resulting data will support research, policy, and advocacy efforts to better understand - and ultimately expand - access to specialty palliative care across the country.

LifeTouch Health data breach exposes Social Security numbers and health records
Data Breach Rights; 10/13/26
Arkansas Hospice Inc., operating as LifeTouch Health, notified the Vermont Attorney General in October 2026 of a data breach exposing Social Security numbers, government ID numbers, financial account data, and health records. The number of people affected has not been publicly disclosed. Affected individuals should place a credit freeze and monitor both credit reports and insurance statements closely.

Aging policy takes center stage at NASHP’s 2026 annual conference
NASHP press release; by Claire Kolmansberger, Kimberly Hodges, Wendy Fox-Grage; 10/9/26
Aging is a core pillar of state health policy. Adults age 65 and older are the fastest-growing age group in the U.S., and by 2034, older adults are projected to outnumber children for the first time. As demographics shift, states are simultaneously navigating direct care workforce shortages, rising demand for long-term services and supports (LTSS), and shifting Medicaid budgets. At NASHP’s 2026 annual conference, aging shaped discussions across a breadth of topics as states grappled with how to sustainably support a growing aging population, including those with complex care needs. Sessions explored strategies to strengthen aging care systems and services, including home- and community-based services, nursing home care, and palliative care. “Aging has come of age.” [says] Rani Snyder, President, The John A. Hartford Foundation.

Out now: the Global Atlas of Palliative Care, 3rd edition
Worldwide Hospice Pallaitive Care Alliance (WHPCA); by Stephen R. Connor; 10/9/26
Today, at the 50th Montréal International Palliative Care Congress, we launched the third edition of the Global Atlas of Palliative Care. It offers the most complete picture yet of who needs palliative care worldwide, and who is receiving it. The picture shows real progress, but a gap that remains very wide.

• 73.5 million people are estimated to need palliative care every year.
• About 14% of that need is met by specialised palliative care services. In low- and middle-income countries, only 4% of people in need receive it.
• 25,000 → 33,720 The approximate growth in specialised palliative care services between 2017 and 2025. Patients served rose from almost 7 million to over 10.4 million.

Former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy to headline End Well 2026 Summit, taking on loneliness at the end of life
PR Newswire; 10/13/26
End Well... today announced that Dr. Vivek Murthy, the 19th and 21st Surgeon General of the United States and founder of The Together Project, will headline its 2026 Summit on November 12 at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles and online. Murthy will speak with Jamie Yuccas, CBS News National Correspondent, about loneliness and human connection when people are facing serious illness, caregiving, dying, and grief.

Reconnecting at the end: The healing power of nature in hospice and palliative care
Dr. Owen Wiseman blog; by Owen Wiseman; 8/18/26 [Originally published by Dr. Wiseman through the Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association on 1/5/26]
A caregiver gently holds the hand of an older adult resting in a hospital bed, conveying compassion, comfort, and human connection during serious illness or end-of-life care. When I think about comfort at the end of life, I picture difficult moments buffered by a sense of softness. Small moments that remind us that we’re part of something bigger. One of the most profound sources of comfort is nature. The feeling of sunlight warming our skin, the sound of birds outside a window, or that first breath of fresh air. In hospice and palliative care, every moment is important, and these connections to the world around us offer something no medicine or machine can. Why nature matters...

Advance Care Planning for Black and White older adults with serious illness
JAMA Network; by Kimberly S. Johnson, Deborah Ejem, Alyssa Platt, Maren Olsen, Tammie Quest, Nadine Barrett, Ramona Rhodes, Anupama Gangavati, Ronit Elk, Marie Bakitas, Marisette Hasan, Kenisha Bethea, Sherone N. Williams-Bryant, Felicia Underwood, Jane Lowers, Karen Steinhauser, Rowena Dolor, Raegan W. Durant; 10/7/26
The EQUAL ACP Randomized Trial. Is a facilitated advance care planning (ACP) approach more effective than a self-guided ACP approach among Black and White adults 65 years or older with a serious illness? In this cluster randomized clinical trial of 789 participants, ACP completion (advance directive, clinician note, or family discussion about end-of-life care preferences) at 1 year did not differ significantly by intervention. Among Black participants, completion was 71% with the facilitated approach and 62% with the self-guided approach. Among White participants, it was 68% and 78%, respectively.

Social Media Watch 10/9/26

• Sheila Clark, President and CEO @ California Hospice and Palliative Care Association (CHAPCA), applauds Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for seeking perspectives from across the hospice community: hospice administrators and associations, the professionals who provide direct care, and the beneficiaries, loved ones, and caregivers who experience that care firsthand. She mentions Hospice News' article CMS to update hospice CoPs.
• Ernesto Lopez, CEO @ 1520ai, recently had the opportunity to spend time with Professor Suraj Srinivasan at Harvard Business School. His perspective on emerging AI use cases, and on the companies converting AI capabilities into meaningful innovation, was particularly insightful...

Executive Personnel Changes - 10/9/26

• National Alliance for Care at Home welcomes Jennifer Stewart as Vice President of Strategic Engagement and Experience.
• VNA in Santa Barbara announces Sena Woodall has been appointed as its new COO, following the retirement of her predecessor and mentor Jo Ann Mack.
• HopeHealth [MA & RI] names Helena Moronta Director of Community Engagement.

‘Byzantine ownership arrangements’: Calls to scrutinize coding and profit incentives in nursing home Medicare payments
Skilled Nursing News; by Zahida Siddiqi; 10/9/26
Policy analysts at the nonpartisan agency that advises Congress on Medicare policy are planning to investigate potential coding distortions, payment inaccuracies and whether financial incentives influence patient selection by nursing home providers as part of an assessment of payment accuracy in fee-for-service Medicare’s skilled nursing facility and home health payment systems. At its October meeting Friday, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) discussed a research work plan, with commissioners calling attention to for-profit providers seeking to game the system, with a rising role of hidden private equity influence. [MedPAC presentation slides here.]
Publisher's note: Bold and italics above are ours; if MedPAC is looking at this in SNF and HHA, hospice is likely not too far behind...

In current anti-fraud climate, no room for error for home health, hospice agencies
McKnights Home Care; by Liza Berger; 10/6/26
After operating hospice, home health and other companies for over a decade in Arizona, Peter prided himself on his sound reputation in the community and employees’ loyalty. He never dreamed that a technical error on a routine hospice renewal application would lead to a revocation of his hospice’s Medicare enrollment and billing privileges and leave him fighting for his livelihood.

When you realize that each day is not one more day, it's one less, you will start giving more value to the things that truly matter.