Literature Review

[England] One in five hospices ‘face a deficit of over £1m’ while many axe services – data MSN - The Irish News US; by  Jane Kirby and Ella Pickover; 10/9/25 One in five hospices in England have a deficit of more than £1 million, while many are cutting services, according to new data. Hospice UK said short-term Government funding has helped plug some gaps but the sector is still majorly struggling due to a lack of cash. Some 57% of hospices in England ended the last financial year (2024-25) in deficit, with a fifth having a deficit of more than £1 million.

Bipartisan group of N.Y. legislators urge Hochul to sign bill preventing for-profit hospice expansion Spectrum News 1, Northern New York; by Susan Arbetter; 10/9/25 Because hospice care doesn’t provide curative treatment, for-profit companies, including private equity firms, are swiftly entering the field because they can make a lot of money. It hasn’t worked out well. In New York state, there are 39 not-for-profit hospice programs and two for-profit. There are those who point to the state’s low hospice utilization rate and say the answer is to open the state up to more for-profit hospice. State Sen. Liz Krueger, a Democrat from Manhattan, and state Assemblyman Brian Maher, a Republican from the Hudson Valley, both strongly disagree.

Press Ganey to be sold to Qualtrics in $6.75B deal Modern Healthcare; by Gabriel Perna; 10/6/25 Press Ganey Forsta, which provides patient surveys and engagement tools for hospitals, is set to be sold to data company Qualtrics in $6.75 billion deal. The companies on Monday announced the deal, which is subject to customary closing conditions. Qualtrics plans to use a combination of cash and equity to pay for Press Ganey. Qualtrics, which is owned by private equity firm Silver Lake, creates software to help companies across multiple sectors receive feedback from their employees and customers. The company said in a news release that acquiring Press Ganey will bolster its offerings to healthcare companies while giving it more data to train its artificial intelligence models.

Gerontological nursing essentials for BSN students: Meeting aging population needs Nevada State | RN to BSN; 10/9/25 An aging population is transforming healthcare delivery, and nurses are increasingly called to address the complex needs of older adults. For students pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), learning the essentials of gerontological nursing provides the foundation to deliver compassionate, effective care. This specialty emphasizes not only clinical expertise but also communication, cultural competence, and advocacy for patient dignity. Explore what defines this field, the role of an adult gerontology nurse practitioner, and the pathways available to see how they can shape the future of elder care. Editor's Note: How is your organization supporting career growth for all staff members? While this article focuses on the RN-to-BSN pathway with a gerontological nursing emphasis, consider expanding professional development opportunities across your entire workforce—clinical and non-clinical alike. For example: 

For this doctor, LGBTQ+ care is about the mission and the moment American Medical Association (AMA); by Timothy M. Smith; 10/8/25 ... [Shail Maing, MD] is a hematology-oncology and palliative care physician at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI), in Boston, where she is also the inaugural DFCI Network health equity and inclusion liaison. In addition to her work caring for patients, Dr. Maingi’s passion is advocacy, particularly on health inequities for LGBTQ+ patients. She was the founding chair of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine’s LGBTQ Special Interest Group. “We’re living in a very diverse world, with much more acceptance and acknowledgement that health care is for everybody—that there are differences that are unexplored, and we can't pretend everybody has the same set of needs,” said Dr. Maingi ...

Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie. ~ Jim Davis

Dallas nonprofit plans first hospice house for people experiencing homelessness NBC DFW-5, Dallas, TX; by David Goins; 10/7/25 ... Tucked along a quiet, tree-lined street just east of downtown Dallas sits a historic property that will soon house a new concept for North Texas — a hospice house designed to provide end-of-life care in a safe, supportive environment for those living unsheltered. Chris Culack, CEO of the Visiting Nurse Association of Texas, said the organization’s mission has long centered on supporting vulnerable populations. The group currently provides meals for homebound neighbors in Dallas, Denton and Rockwall counties, as well as in-home hospice care in 16 counties statewide. 

Why 95% of AI rollouts fail and what L&D leaders can do about it Big Think+; 10/7/25 Companies are pouring resources into AI, yet capability gaps hold employees back from using it effectively. ... MIT recently reported that 95 percent of AI projects fail to deliver measurable outcomes. Despite the unprecedented investment, productivity gains are elusive, employee adoption is shaky, and the business case often collapses under scrutiny. How can we surround ourselves with the most powerful technology in human history, spend billions deploying it, and still struggle to prove it makes us better? The answer isn’t hiding in the models or the code. The real story and the real risk are sitting right in front of us. ... If you only push the tech, you’ll be part of the 95 percent of failures. If you only focus on people, you’ll underestimate what’s at stake. Success requires advancing both at the same time, with equal intentionality.

Timing matters: Impact of early advance care planning conversations on hospice utilization in outpatient oncologyJCO Oncology Practice, An American Society of Clinical Oncology Journal; by Lydia Mills, Malia Albin, Ami Gorsky-Zabukovic, Liz Hutchison, Molly Mendenhall, and Robyn Tibert; 10/7/25  Results: 53% of physicians interviewed defined [Advance Care Planning] ACP as hospice, end-of-life, or code status conversations. This group of providers preferred waiting to conduct ACP discussions until later in a patient’s disease trajectory. However, 33% of physicians interviewed viewed ACP as broader discussions, to include patients’ values, goals and preferences for EOL care. These physicians stated they engage in ACP conversations as early as the first or second visit, especially with patients who have Stage IV disease or have a poor prognosis, introducing hospice as a potential option and revisiting these discussions throughout the course of treatment. PI data showed that providers who engage in early and consistent ACP discussions have a 17% higher hospice enrollment rate compared to their peers. 

Hospice chain settles fraud claims for $3 million Law.com; 10/7/25 Guardian Hospice of Georgia and affiliated firms Guardian Home Care Holdings and AccentCare have agreed to pay $3 million to settle whistleblower claims that they submitted false claims to Medicare and Medicaid for hospice patients that were not terminally ill, the acting U.S. attorney in Atlanta announced Oct. 2.

Study: PE-owned hospices have highest profits, lowest spending on direct patient care McKnights Home Care; by Liza Berger; 10/8/25 Compared to publicly traded company-owned and other for-profit hospices, private equity (PE)-owned hospices reported the highest profits and lowest spending on direct patient care and nonsalary administrative services, a study published Tuesday in Health Affairs revealed. The study, which used 2022 Medicare cost reports, compared revenue and expense data across four hospice ownership models: PE-owned, publicly traded company-owned, other for- profit, and not-for-profit. The sample consisted of 2,989 freestanding hospices ... [Across] the board, not-for-profits spend about 20% more on direct patient care services than other for-profits. And that seems to be driven by a pretty big difference in nurse salaries, which to us implies that staffing tends to be better at or at least more robust at not-for-profits. ... A body of research has found that for-profit hospice ownership, including private equity, is associated with poorer quality, higher rates of complaints, a higher number of live discharges, and a higher hospitalization rate compared with not-for-profit ownership.

Winnetka man gets nearly 5 years for role in $16M Medicare fraud Los Angeles Daily News, Los Angeles, CA; by City News Service; 10/6/25 A San Fernando Valley man was sentenced Monday, Oct. 6, to four years and nine months behind bars for his role in conning Medicare out of nearly $16 million through sham hospice companies and then helping launder the illicit proceeds. Karpis Srapyan, 35, was also ordered to pay restitution of $3.2 million to Medicare, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.