Literature Review

An updated analysis of serious health-related suffering from 2021 to 2023 Journal of Pain and Symptom Management; by Afsan Bhadelia, Xiaoxiao Jiang Kwete, Tania Pastrana, Héctor Arreola-Ornelas, Jinfeng Ding, Oscar Méndez-Carniado, Lukas Radbruch, William E Rosa, Hongliang Tao, Valentina Vargas Enciso, Felicia Marie Knaul; 7/15/26 Results: Between 2021 and 2023, global serious health-related suffering (SHS) grew by 3.9% - outpacing population growth (1.8%) - driven by sharp increases in upper-middle-income countries (UMICs) (5.5%) and high-income countries (HICs) (5.2%) and notable condition-specific increases in SHS associated with lung disease (18.2%), inflammatory disease of the central nervous system (11.4%), and dementia (7.9%). Moreover, increases in SHS due to cancer were particularly stark in LICs (17.8%), while injuries markedly rose in HICs (15.9%).

California physician arrested in $3.2m hospice fraud scheme Hospice News; by Holly Vossel; 7/17/26 A California-based physician was recently arrested after pleading guilty to charges of healthcare fraud. Dr. Sanjoy Banerjee, was a medical director for Fountain Hospice, based in Los Angeles. Two other medical directors at the hospice, Luis Artavia and Mark Samonte, also face charges for their alleged involvement in a fraud scheme that bilked more than $3.2 million in Medicare and Medi-Cal funds. The case centers around violations of false or fraudulent claims and conspiracy to commit a crime, with an aggravated white-collar enhancement.

Empath Health Mobile Simulation RV gives summer camp students hands-on look at healthcare careers Pasco Hernando State College (PHSC); Press Release; 7/16/26 Today, Empath Health Clinical Specialist, MJ Schwartz, Workforce Innovation & Academic Partnerships brought their Mobile Simulation Unit to Pasco-Hernando State College’s Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch Health Care Discovery Summer Camp on Thursday, July 16, giving middle and high school students a hands-on introduction to health  care careers through interactive clinical simulations and team-based problem solving. The 31-foot Mobile Simulation RV hosted 28 campers, ages 11 to 18, who rotated through the unit in small groups. Students explored health care training equipment, learned basic patient care concepts and participated in a medical “escape room”-style activity designed to build critical thinking and collaboration skills while introducing real-world healthcare scenarios.

Thrifts & Gifts volunteer supports local hospice provider Focus Newspaper | The Associated Press, valdese, NC; 7/15/26 Dianne Compton has volunteered with AMOREM’s Thrifts & Gifts store for nearly a year, but she’s been supporting hospice care much longer than that. Over the past 25+ years, Compton has supported the hospice organizations in her local community. As a restaurant owner in Rutherfordton, she would provide a special treat to hospice patients on their birthday. Later, after the death of her mother in hospice care, she managed the thrift store that supported the hospice organization there. She also served as a volunteer. ... Her favorite things to do at Thrifts & Gifts are making floral arrangements, working in the shoes and clearing off the back dock. Knowing her time at Thrifts & Gifts directly supports AMOREM’s mission is very rewarding. ... 

New easy-to-navigate web edition: A history of care - 250 years of American need, service and hope Composing Life Out of Loss, partnered with Hospice & Palliative Care Today; by Joy S. Berger; 7/20/26 Growing out of your overwhelming response to our July 4th, 2026 commemoration, we’re now releasing a new web edition of A History of Care: 250 Years of American Need, Service and Hope to carry this work forward. We invite you to use this living history—in your own setting and across our field—as we write the next chapters of care together.

You have to do your own growing no matter how tall your grandfather was. ~ Abraham Lincoln

Savings in Medicare hospice payments for care provided in nursing homes U.S. HHS-OIG; Project Number OEI-02-26-00180; 7/15/26 The HHS OIG today announced an addition to the OIG Workplan to review the routine home care payments paid for patients in nursing homes. The fixed daily rates that Medicare pays hospices for routine home care provided in a nursing home include personal care services.  However, nursing homes are already required to provide personal care services to their residents.  Paying the hospice the full routine home care rate that covers personal care services when these services are already required from the nursing home can undermine the efficiency of Medicare payments and add to the incentives that bad actors have to exploit the program.  This review will determine Medicare payments for routine home care provided to hospice beneficiaries in nursing homes, estimate potential cost savings from reducing the payment to address the inefficiency in the payment structure, and examine practices of hospices with a high percentage of their beneficiaries in nursing homes. The date for the release of the report has not been announced.

Calendar Year (CY) 2027 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Proposed Rule CMS Newsroom; Fact Sheet; 7/14/26 paired with U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, CMS CY 2027 Payment Policies under the Physician Fee Schedule, 7/16/26; summary by guest editor Judi Lund Person On July 14, 2026, the Federal Register posted the CY 2027 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule proposed rule – CMS-1848-P. The CMS Fact Sheet on the proposed rule can be found here. While the proposed rule is 1,592 pages, there are two items of note to hospice and palliative care readers: 1) Supporting Beneficiaries Planning for Future Medical Decisions.CMS is proposing to create two new HCPCS codes to describe advance care planning (ACP) services furnished by clinical staff under the direct supervision of the billing physician or other practitioner. These new codes will more accurately distinguish and value the work done by billing practitioners from time spent by their clinical staff providing ACP services. We are further proposing that the existing ACP CPT codes 99497 and 99498 would only be used to report time personally spent by the billing practitioner. 2) RFI on Community-based Palliative Care, asking questions on eligibility for serious illness care and palliative care, the future of care management services and advanced primary care management.   

Hospice of Westchester receives donation from NYS Tribute Foundation Yonkers Times, White Plains, NY; by Dan Murphy; 7/12/26 Hospice of Westchester (HOW) recently received a $10,000 donation from NYS Tribute Foundation. The funds will support HOW’s Anna & Louis H. Shereff Bereavement Program, which provides bereavement care to patients’ families for 13 months following the loss of a loved one, as well as to all members of the community. “We are grateful to the NYS Tribute Foundation for their incredible generosity and ongoing support of our mission,” said Mary K. Spengler, RN, MS, LNHA, CEO of Hospice of Westchester. ... The NYS Tribute Foundation, which unites funeral service professionals throughout New York State, is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting education, outreach and research programs that advance the public’s understanding of end-of-life issues.

The Joint Commission Home Health Accreditation U.S. Department of Health and Human Services | FederalRegister.gov; Announcemen; scheduled to be published on 7/10/26  The Federal Register announced on July 9, 2026 that the application from The Joint Commission for continued CMS approval of its Home Health Agency (HHA) accreditation program has been approved by CMS. The approval is applicable from March 31, 2026 through March 31, 2032. 

National Alliance for Care at Home hosts 2026 Finance and Technology Summit National Alliance for Care at Home, Alexandria, VA; Press Release; 7/14/26 On July 12-14, the National Alliance for Care at Home (the Alliance) successfully hosted the 2026 Alliance Finance and Technology Summit in Boston, MA. The Summit brought together leaders from across the care at home continuum, with expert-led sessions, peer collaboration, and insights into digital transformation, data strategy, and tech-enabled care delivery. More than 600 attendees and exhibitors participated in the comprehensive program, which featured keynote presentations, concurrent educational sessions, networking opportunities, award presentations, and a fundraiser at Fenway Park for the Research Institute for Home Care.