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.

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.

Difficult discussions: How UTC nursing faculty are using AI to teach the hardest conversations in care The University of Tennessee Chattanooga, Chattanooga, TN; by Chuck Wasserstrom; 7/20/26 Two University of Tennessee at Chattanooga College of Nursing faculty members recently shared their work on AI-assisted simulation with an international audience, leading a webinar on how the technology can help prepare graduate nurse practitioner students for difficult conversations in palliative care: Dr. Chris Doneski, director of UTC’s acute care nurse practitioner program and a simulation faculty member, and Dr. Rosebelle Peters, nursing simulation program director and senior lecturer. ... The presentation centered on a gap the two faculty members see in graduate nursing education. Doneski said students often receive training in procedures, prescribing and transition to practice, but communication training for difficult situations can be harder to build in meaningful ways. ... The recorded webinar is available through HealthySimulation.com. Users must register for a free account to view it.

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.

When did we begin believing that showing up isn’t enough?The Newnan Times-Herald, Newnan, GA; by Scott Lakey; 7/20/26 4:27 A.M.: the garage door opens; the humidity is thick with the smell of Georgia pines ... I am departing for St. Vincent's Hospital in Little Rock, AR. [This first-person story describes a series of family caregiving needs across 2 days and multi-location family visits.] ... On the way home, it was quiet in the car. It felt like a version of the movie It's a Wonderful Life. Thinking about lives I saw pass before me. New birth, newlyweds building a life, mid-life health crisis, and end-of-life care. 9:11 P.M I arrived back home in Newna, GA. My wife and son came out to greet me. There were hugs and hellos to the dogs. Shortly thereafter, I was in bed, and I prayed. That's all I could do. ... For two days, sixteen hours, forty-four minutes, and 1,331 miles, I kept thinking "that's all I could do." Then I realized. Maybe showing up was enough. 

The evolving role of hospice CMOs Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 7/21/26 For hospices, the role of the chief medical officer is expanding beyond the role of overseeing the medical staff and into the regulatory and business operations arena. CMOs in 2026 need a broader skill set than clinical knowledge, according to Dr. Martha Presley, CMO of Alive Hospice. After a previous stint as a medical director for Alive Hospice. Pressley returned as CMO in March 2025 upon the retirement of Dr. David McRay. “Historically, chief medical officers have been very focused on the management of other clinical staff. This is becoming a more operational role than I think it has ever been in the past,” Presley told Hospice News. ... The role of a hospice CMO increasingly blends advanced medical practice with executive leadership, including clinician oversight, handling quality and compliance, administrative operations, building community and referral partnerships and mentoring staff.

CMS to give 60 days notice if it opts to extend six-month moratoriumMcKnight's Home Care; by Liza Berger; 7/13/26According to Jeneen Iwugo of CMS, the agency will provide at least 60 days’ notice if it extends the six-month national moratorium on new Medicare home health and hospice enrollments. The statement was made during a panel at the National Alliance for Care at Home’s Finance and Technology Summit last Monday... Officials also emphasized that CMS is shifting from recovering improper payments after claims are paid to using data analytics and artificial intelligence to stop suspicious payments earlier. However, AI only identifies potential concerns; payment suspensions and provider revocations remain human decisions.Publisher's note: The moratorium began 5/13/26 and is scheduled to end 11/13/26; 60 days prior to 11/13/26 is 9/14/26. Source article may have restricted access; summary above from Homecare & Hospice Association of Colorado newsletter.

All Saints Hospice hosts first-ever school supply drive for Lake Charles students KPLC-7, Lake Charles, LA; by Brendan Brown; 7/18/26 A Lake Charles hospice center is going beyond patient care and into the classroom. All Saints Hospice is collecting school supplies for local students, hoping to ease the financial burden on families before the new school year begins. Getting kids ready for the first day of school isn’t cheap. Bookbags, pencils, paper, binders the list adds up quickly, and for many Lake Charles families, it can be an expensive task to take on. According to the National Education Association, school supply costs increased by 7.6 percent for the 2025-2026 school year compared to the year before, a trend that could continue heading into the next school year.

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."

CTOs say human alignment is key to cyber resilience SC World US Media | CyberRisk Alliance; by LevelBlue; 7/17/26 ... CTOs identify human misalignment as a key shortcoming in the cyber resilience strategy.CTOs believe that greater collaboration could improve the effectiveness of their cyber resilience strategies. Only slightly over one quarter (27%) say their enterprise displays very close alignment, compared with about a third who say they are very competent in areas relating to cybersecurity and cyber resilience. LevelBlue’s data indicates that 75% of CTOs (compared with 61% of the overall sample) say lack of clarity around responsibility for cyber resilience often impairs strategy. A lack of clear ownership blurs accountability, delays incident response, and disconnects cyber decisions from business risk appetite. Despite strong technical defenses, this leaves organizations more exposed.

The impact of environment on palliative care practices and needs Europe Says | Environment; 7/19/26 Climate change is now recognised as one of the greatest public health threats globally. Rising temperatures, extreme weather events, floods, droughts, air pollution affect people living with chronic, serious, and life-limiting illnesses. Patients requiring palliative care are among the most vulnerable during environmental crises. Many depend on:

Religious scripts for dying The Christian Century; by Aaron Klink; 7/20/26 Travis Pickell explores the moral burden placed on those who face end-of-life medical decisions but lack communal support. Amid much conversation about end-of-life care—its methods, costs, and ethics—there is little sustained attention to the question of why this subject generates so much political and moral controversy. The blame is sometimes placed on advances in medical technologies (such as ventilators and artificial nutrition and hydration) or in treatments (such as kidney dialysis and aggressive chemotherapy). But the reality is more complicated, argues Travis Pickell in Burdened Agency - Christian Theology and End-of-Life Ethics. ... Pickell devotes much of the book to exploring various theological understandings of death and outlining the “scripts for dying” created by each theology. 

[United Kingdom] Hospice marks 35th anniversary with exhibition BBC News, Channel Islands and Guernsey, United Kingdom; 7/18/26 A charity is marking 35 years of providing specialist hospice care for people with life-limiting illnesses, through an art installation. Les Bourgs Hospice was founded in 1991 and the photographic exhibition in the Brian White Gallery at Guernsey Museum, Candie, celebrates the people and community behind it. The States of Guernsey said the gallery consisted of a series of about 70 portraits which captured "the people whose dedication, compassion and commitment" helped shape what the hospice is about.