The Denver Hospice and Colorado Visiting Nurse Association announce Ben Marcantonio as new President 
The Denver Hospice; by CS Master Admin; 9/23/25 
Tim Bowen, President and CEO of Care Synergy, along with The Denver Hospice and Colorado Visiting Nurse Association (CVNA) Boards of Directors, are pleased to announce that Ben Marcantonio has been selected as the new President of The Denver Hospice and Colorado Visiting Nurse Asssociation. Marcantonio brings more than 40 years of leadership experience in healthcare, education, and social service organizations. Most recently, he served as Chief Integration Officer for the National Alliance for Care at Home, where he was responsible for integrating operational processes, systems, and departments of two national associations into one unified organization. ... Earlier in his career, Marcantonio was President and CEO of Hospice of the Chesapeake in Maryland, where he successfully expanded access to care, increased financial stability, and strengthened community-based palliative care services. He also served in leadership positions at San Diego Hospice and The Institute for Palliative Medicine, Scripps Health, and Charter Hospital, and began his career in educational leadership with the Diocese of San Diego.

RECAP: NPHI convenes national leaders in Washington for annual fall Leadership Conference 
National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation; Press Release; 9/23/25 
The National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI) brought together CEOs and senior leaders from across the country last week for its Washington Leadership Conference, the organization’s annual fall gathering in the nation’s capital. ...

• [Remarks from Tom Koutsompas, Founder & CEO; Carole Fisher, President; and Diana Franchitto, Board Chair] ...
• Senator Mark Warner Reintroduces Advance Care Planning Legislation ...
• Kim Brandt: CMS Partnership and Program Integrity ...
• Member Leadership and Policy Priorities ...
• Increased Focus on Quality ...
• Hill Day: NPHI Members Take Their Message to Congress ...
• Looking Ahead ...

Hospice, palliative care services yield high quality, cost savings 
Hospice News; by Holly Vossel; 9/22/25 
Hospice and palliative care services can result in better outcomes and reduced costs, recent research has found. A recent study by Empassion Health examined 45,957 seriously ill patients receiving supportive care through the organization from January 2023 to April 2025. The study found a 35% reduction in total cost of care per patient during the final year of life when compared to other individuals. ... The Empassion Health study’s key findings include:

• An average of $33,000 savings for patients receiving both palliative care and hospice services
• Roughly $7,000 average savings for patients receiving in-home palliative care only
• A 35% reduction in hospital spending ...
• Quality ratings that reached 90% ...

Hospice home for veterans named after philanthropist in Nevada 
Audacy.com - Connecting Vets; by Julia DeDoux; 9/22/25 
A Reno, Nevada-based nonprofit dedicated to ensuring veterans have access to the medical care they need has named its newly opened hospice home in honor of a philanthropist whose gifts have been critical to its efforts. Veterans Guest House said the facility, which opened in June, will be known as the Cynthia Lake House. Lake has been instrumental in expanding access to both medical and end-of-life care for veterans across northern Nevada. In 2022, she founded Veterans Guest House’s Patient Advocacy Program, which connects veterans with transportation, post-operative care, and personal support. The impact of the program inspired Lake to scale the vision to 24/7 personalized care, making the hospice house possible.

‘Churning’ hospice patients yields no significant financial benefits, study find 
McKnights Home Care; by Adam Healy; 9/22/25 
Hospices that try to game Medicare payment rules by “churning” patients are producing negligible financial benefits, according to a new study published in the Journal of Public Economics. Researchers used Medicare hospice claims data from 2000 to 2019 to identify instances of providers churning patients. “Churning” refers to the practice of rapidly enrolling and discharging beneficiaries as a means of undercutting Medicare payment caps. ... For FY 2026, the hospice cap amount is $35,361.44, an increase of 2.6% from FY 2025, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said in the hospice final rule. ... Hospices may try to “game” the system by rapidly enrolling and discharging patients to raise their payment cap, the researchers noted. ... Previous research has indicated that churning may be associated with worse end-of-life outcomes for Medicare beneficiaries, researchers noted. 

Valley Regional Medical Center launches new palliative care program 
Valley Central.com, NBC-23 and CBS-4, Brownsville, TX; by Jesse Mendez; 9/22/25 
Valley Regional Medical Center has launched comprehensive palliative care services through its hospitalist group, HNI Healthcare, to support patients and families facing serious illness. The new palliative care services at Valley Regional Medical Center aim to provide compassionate, patient-centered care, focusing on symptom management and emotional support, as well as goals-of-care discussions to align treatment with patients’ values and preferences.

Driving innovation: Healthsperien launches Center for Health Research, Policy & Strategy led by seasoned experts  
PR Newswire, Washginton, DC; by Healthsperien; 9/23/25 
Healthsperien announces the official launch of its Center for Health Research, Policy & Strategy, marking the third in a series of new Centers of Expertise designed to provide clients with specialized, high-quality services and reinforce Healthsperien as a comprehensive partner and integrated hub for health policy, government relations, and research strategies. ... The Center will be led by Dianne Munevar, Partner, who joins Healthsperien after serving as Vice President of Health Care Strategy at NORC at the University of Chicago. She will lead a seasoned team of 5 research, policy, and strategy experts, who also come from NORC at the University of Chicago, ...

Enhancing hospice care: St. Gabriel's Joins LifeCare family 
Investors Hangout; by Caleb Price; 9/23/25 
St. Gabriel's Hospice & Palliative Care has officially become part of the LifeCare Home Health (LCHH) family, a significant step in strengthening hospice care across Texas. This collaboration aligns with LifeCare's ongoing mission to expand its hospice offerings, particularly after the recent acquisitions of Fairmont Hospice and Valley Hospice. ... Founded by healthcare executive Chris Cain, St. Gabriel's Hospice has been dedicated to providing compassionate end-of-life care since 2012. The agency proudly serves approximately 300 patients with a devoted team of over 200 professionals. 

Elara Caring and National HME announce exclusive partnership to provide durable medical equipment services nationwide 
Business Wire (BW), Dallas & Irving, TX; Press Release; 9/23/25 
Elara Caring, a leading national home health provider offering high-quality clinical and personal care services, and National HME, a leading provider of durable medical equipment (DME) solutions and services, today announced that they have entered into an exclusive agreement under which National HME will deliver its best-in-class DME services to Elara Caring’s 49 hospice locations across the United States. 

Study provides new insight into loneliness among home care recipients 
McKnights Home Care; by Paul Katz, MD and Barbara Resnick, PhD; 9/22/25 
... A team of international Investigators, led by researchers at the University of Waterloo, recently reported on the link between loneliness and mortality among home care recipients in Canada, Finland and New Zealand. The study can be found in the July issue of the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association (Vol 26 (7) 105687 July 2025). ... Home care recipients may be more prone to loneliness, given mobility and sensory problems that limit engagement in the community.  ... Interestingly, investigators noted that individuals with less informal care had the highest rates of loneliness. An explanation may be that those with less complex health needs requiring less support from family members may lead to more social isolation.
Editor's Note: In your psychosocial assessements, do you address loneliness? In hospice care, imagine the depths of loneliness that an elderly caregiver in the home might be experiencing. What kinds of hospice volunteer referrals and assignments do you routinely use? Get to know your Volunteer Services better. Invite their ideas for creative, cost-effective ways to support home patients and caregivers who struggle with loneliness.

AI's disruptive impact on youth employment: Emerging evidence and organizational responses 
Forbes, by Jonathan H. Westover, PhD; 9/23/25 
... The AI-Employment Shift: What We Know
The stats are in—and they're sobering. New research analyzing high-frequency payroll data shows early-career workers (ages 22-25) in AI-exposed occupations have experienced a 13% relative employment decline since generative AI's widespread adoption. Meanwhile, more experienced workers in those same roles have remained largely unaffected. In my consulting work with Fortune 500 companies, I've witnessed this firsthand. ... 

• Organizational Impact: Beyond The Numbers ...
• Building AI-Resilient Talent Strategies ...
• Reimagining Entry Points ...
• Skill Development For Augmentation, Not Competition ...
• Human-AI Workflow Design ...
• Moving Forward: Leadership Imperatives ...

In every successful team, communication is not a task, but a commitment. ~ Benjamin E. Mays