Literature Review

Hospice enrollments from the emergency department feature short admissions and high-acuity hospice care Health Affairs; by Helen P. Knight, Kourosh Ravvaz, Alexander Fiksdal, Lin Shen, Isaac S. Chua, Claire K. Ankuda, Haiden A. Huskamp, Hojjat Salmasian, Joan M. Teno, and David W. Bates; 6/1/26 ... In this sample, 4.3 percent of initial enrollments in hospice originated from the ED. ED-to-hospice admissions featured short lengths-of-stay (21.7 percent were two days or less) and high rates of general inpatient level of care at the time of enrollment (23.6 percent). The 10 percent of hospice agencies with the highest proportion of ED-to-hospice enrollments were less often for-profit than agencies ranked below the fiftieth percentile in respect to proportion of ED-to-hospice enrollments. Further research is needed to increase understanding of how much patients benefit from ED-to-hospice transfers when their hospice stays before death are very short, and what drivers lead to these ED-to-hospice transfers.

What does Medicare actually cover in a best-rated memory care facility?U.S. News & World Report; by Vanessa Cacers; 7/21/26 |Memory care facilities offer a safe, supportive environment for those with Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia, but care can be costly. Learn what memory care services Medicare will pay for. |Key Takeaways

HHS pausing $1 billion in Medicaid payments to California, Minnesota over fraud LI; by Mary Chastain; 7/21/26 The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have paused more than $1 billion in Medicaid payments to California and Minnesota due to fraud concerns. “That includes more than $887 million for California and over $200 million for Minnesota,” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said at a press conference. “If those states want that money, they need to provide documentation that these payments are legitimate.”

Mercy Hospice House renamed Garden B; some criticize lack of transparency The Durango Herald, Durango, CO; by Jessica Bowman; 7/20/26 Mercy Hospice House was renamed Garden B after the for-profit arm of CommonSpirit Health Network, Health at Home, assumed responsibility for outpatient hospice services. The name change was required by state regulations, according to Wendy Hockett, the Health at Home representative who spoke with local hospice volunteers during a meeting Wednesday at the hospice offices in Three Springs. Because Mercy Hospital no longer holds Colorado's hospice license, the building can no longer legally be called a "hospice house," she said. The hospice license is now held by CommonSpirit Health at Home. The hospice team will continues to care for patients who are in one of the eight Garden B beds, but Mercy Hospital nurses, trained in both hospice and non-hospice care, will also provide bedside care, she said.

Wabash Valley Sewing Connection donates quilts to veterans in hospice care WTWO/WAWV Terre Haute, Terre Haute, IN; by Noah Gastineau; 7/20/26 Veterans can sometimes feel left out or forgotten, especially those in Hospice care, but one group is thanking local veterans for their service one quilt at a time. The Wabash Valley Sewing Connection is donating 44 quilts to the VNA and Hospice of the Wabash Valley to be given to veterans at the facility. The group has been doing this for years, but this year is extra special as it coincides with America's 250th birthday. ... It took approximately 1,100 hours to quilt all 44 quilts together before they were donated to the VNA and Hospice of the Wabash Valley. 

The post-AI era of healthcare: why technology alone won’t transform care Health IT Answers; by Cheryl Cruver; 7/20/26 For the better part of the last three years, healthcare has been fascinated by artificial intelligence (AI). Conferences, board meetings, and strategic plans have all focused on AI’s capacity to reshape everything from clinical documentation to revenue cycle management. At this year’s HFMA Annual Conference, however, something interesting happened. The conversation matured. The discussion was no longer about whether healthcare should adopt AI. ... Instead, healthcare leaders spent much of their time discussing something more practical and arguably more important: how organizations operationalize AI to improve patient experiences, reduce costs, and create sustainable change. 

Agrace expands hospice services into Dubuque Associated Press | PR Newswire, Dubuque, IA; 7/21/26 Local residents who are in the final months of life have a new choice for high-quality, in-home hospice care. Agrace, the largest Wisconsin-based nonprofit hospice, has expanded west of the Mississippi River for the first time, bringing its services to patients in the city of Dubuque, Iowa. For nearly 50 years, Agrace Hospice Care has provided compassionate end-of-life care to people of all ages across southern Wisconsin, with its headquarters located in Madison. Now, Dubuque-area residents can also choose Agrace for hospice care that comes to them where they live—in private homes, long-term care facilities or any other place they call home. Agrace has opened a local office at 300 Main Street in Dubuque, strengthening its commitment to serving patients, families and health care partners in the community.

Ask the expert: Who are hospital ethics consultants? Michigan State University; by Zach Phelps and Dalin Clark; 7/21/26Hospitals are places of incredible hope and healing, but they are also where some of life’s toughest decisions are made. When families and medical teams find themselves at a crossroads with no obvious right answer, trained experts can quietly help evaluate the options. Hospital ethics consultants don’t perform surgery or prescribe medication. Instead, they wield a different kind of superpower: the rare ability to bring insight and clarity to moments of deep uncertainty. When the best path forward isn’t on a medical chart, these guides step up to support families and healthcare teams.

Palliative Care team manifests dreams of butterbeer and Harry Potter Vanderbilt Health News, Nashville, TN; by Jill Clendening; 7/20/26 After Mike Guth and his family learned that his pancreatic cancer had advanced beyond treatment, the Vanderbilt Health Palliative Care team worked magic to make a dream trip possible. ... Mike, 53, a beloved high school social studies teacher in southern Indiana and father of four, was diagnosed with Stage 2 pancreatic cancer in early 2025. ... Mike has always loved the magical lore of Harry Potter, excitedly consuming the books and movies with their children (now adults). Mike perhaps seized inspiration from the plot twists of the fantasy series to say he still longed to visit The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando, Florida. With careful planning to manage symptoms and stay on top of hydration, the Vanderbilt Health Palliative Care team surprised the Guths and said his dream was doable. ... Palliative care physician Zack Watson, MD described, "for him to have that time with his kids and his wife. Hopefully, this gave them an anchor of joy in the midst of this really tough time." On July 14, Mike died peacefully at home, surrounded by his loved ones.

Some kids come here for vacation. Others come to die. Either way, parents are grateful USA TODAY, San Leandro, CA; by Madeline Mitchell; 7/20/26 ... There are mainly two kinds of families who come to George Mark's Children's House. Some come for respite, entrusting their medically fragile but otherwise stable children to skilled nurses while parents leave for a much-needed break from around-the-clock caregiving. Others come for pediatric end-of-life care, a rare and essential service that changed the trajectory of CEO Shekinah Eliassen's life. These parents stay with their children at George Mark and can bring the patient's siblings, too, to soak in their last days together. "This type of service, I believe, should be part of the system of pediatrics," Eliassen says, adding that families never see a bill for their visits. Her son, Lars, died at George Mark when he was 21 days old, after he was born having seizures. 

H.R.9703 - Improving access to transfusion care for hospice patients act of 2026 U.S. Congress.gov, House Ways and Means Committee; sponsored by Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI-6); bill introduced 7/15/26 H.R. 9703: To require the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation to test allowing blood transfusions to be paid separately from the Medicare hospice all-inclusive per diem payment.

Person who makes a difference: Dubuque volunteer brings personal, professional experience to service Telegraph Herald, Dubuque, IA; by reade Snelling; 7/19/26 After a lifetime of caring for people in the community, one might find that some time off was in order. Allen Meurer didn't, though. During and after his long career of serving Dubuque as a physician, Meurer has also been a caregiver and resource for older adults throughout the city. Now, as a volunteer at Bethany Home, Hospice of Dubuque, Hawkeye Care Center and Harmony Healthcare, plus serving on the board of directors of the first two organizations, he doesn't seem to be slowing down anytime soon. "That's my passion, end-of-life care," Meurer said. "Since I retired about four years ago, I just continued on visiting the nursing homes like I did for my career."