Hospice Keys

10/08/2025

🌿 Hospice isn’t about “giving up”—it’s about dignity, comfort, and ensuring no one dies in pain or alone.

A new Hatfield Prize–winning report uncovers how outdated Medicare rules, cultural misconceptions, and rural infrastructure challenges are creating barriers to hospice access.

📊 Despite proven benefits - better pain control, fewer hospitalizations, and billions in Medicare savings - hospice use has plateaued around 50%. Too many families are missing out on this essential support.

👉 Read the full report and learn why reform is urgently needed.

10/06/2025

🏥✨ Emergency departments are changing. A new study - the largest of its kind - found that EDs are increasingly serving as key touchpoints for hospice and palliative care consults.

📊 Key findings:
- Consults in EDs rose 173.6% since 2020.
- Palliative care accounted for 58% of consultations.
- Hospice referrals dropped, while palliative care referrals more than doubled.

Originally focused on resuscitation and acute care, EDs are now helping patients access early palliative support for serious, life-limiting conditions.

💡 What do you think - should palliative care specialists be integrated more directly into ED teams?

Emergency departments (EDs) play a central role in end-of-life care, yet the early integration of hospice and palliative care (HPC) is often underutil…

10/05/2025

🤖💬 Can ChatGPT, Bing, or Bard really explain palliative care?
A recent study tested these AI tools on important terms like “terminally ill,” “end of life,” and “actively dying.”

Here’s what researchers found:
- ChatGPT was most accurate and comprehensive.
- Credibility was low across all three.
- The content was too difficult for most patients to read.

🔑 Conclusion: AI can be a useful tool, but patients and families should not rely on it alone. Clinicians must continue to guide and support to ensure information is accurate, compassionate, and understandable.

💡 What do you think? Can AI ever fully support end-of-life care conversations?

Background: Conversational artificial intelligence agents, or chatbots, are a transformational technology understudied in end-of-life care. Methods: OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's Bard, and Microsoft's Bing were asked to define "terminally ill," "end of life," "transiti...

10/04/2025

🚨 Aging doesn’t have to mean “slowing down.” 🚨
The secret to aging in place?
👉 A healthy lifestyle.
💪 Move your body.
🧠 Train your brain.
🥗 Eat smart.
🤝 Stay connected.

Dr. Visalakshi Srinvasan, a geriatrician and the medical director of Health First Aging Services — known as “Dr. Visa” by patients.

10/03/2025

Many leaders know they should delegate - but fear holds them back. Fear that outcomes won’t be good enough. Fear of losing control. Fear that things will slow down.

But here’s the truth: delegation isn’t about giving up control. It’s about creating clarity, building trust, and setting up systems that let your team succeed without constant hand-holding.

Done right, delegation doesn’t drain your energy - it multiplies everyone’s effort. 🚀

👉 Do you find it hard to delegate? Or do you thrive when empowering others? Share your thoughts below.

Just yesterday I had a meeting with a CEO I’d previously helped set up a motivation and growth system for his team. This time, he called me…

10/02/2025

Hearing about hospice through the eyes of a physician is powerful. 👨‍⚕️ Physicians see firsthand how this kind of care not only supports patients medically, but also preserves dignity, strengthens family bonds, and provides comfort at the hardest times of life.

Hospice is more than healthcare - it’s about meeting people where they are, honoring their wishes, and giving families meaningful time together💙

If you’ve seen the impact of hospice in your own life or community, you know why it’s so important to protect and strengthen access to this care.

👉 What has hospice meant for you or your loved ones?

Every day in New York, teams of home health and hospice providers step up to care for patients facing some of life’s most vulnerable moments.

10/01/2025

Imagine a healthcare system where your medical history doesn’t get stuck in silos. With new federal initiatives on interoperability, the goal is simple: make sure your health data moves with you, so every provider has the full picture.

That means less paperwork, fewer repeated tests, and more time focused on what matters most - your care!

Do you think seamless data sharing could make your healthcare experience less frustrating?

In the past few months, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has announced new and renewed initiatives to promote health information sharing and interoperability among health information technology systems.

09/29/2025

💡 Big changes are coming to hospice care with the new HOPE tool for quality reporting.

But here’s the catch:
👉 For small hospice agencies, HOPE could be overwhelming - with limited staff and smaller budgets, every new requirement (extra assessments, data deadlines, symptom follow-up visits) carries a heavy weight.
👉 Larger agencies will feel the impact too, but they usually have bigger teams, stronger systems, and more resources to manage the shift.

It’s the same regulation, but not the same playing field. Smaller hospices risk being left behind.

💬 What do you think? How can the hospice community make sure small providers survive and thrive under HOPE?

The forthcoming transition to the Hospice Outcomes and Patient Evaluation (HOPE) tool could have a ripple effect on hospices’ financial sustainability, an

09/28/2025

Medical advances mean people are living longer with serious and chronic conditions - but our hospice policies haven’t evolved to match this new reality.

Current regulations often limit access to palliative services, caregiver support, and workforce training. Families are carrying more responsibility than ever, while clinicians face shortages and limited resources.

It’s clear: policies need to adapt. 💡 By integrating more palliative care, expanding caregiver support, and investing in hospice education, we can improve quality of life for patients and those who love them.

👉 What changes do you think are most urgent - better caregiver support, expanded training for clinicians, or updates to coverage policies?

Clinicians are increasingly seeing a need to revamp the Medicare Hospice Benefit in ways that better support the needs of patients with life-limiting

09/27/2025

🏡 For many older adults, the desire to “age in place” is strong, even as managing daily activities becomes more challenging.

At-home caregiving is increasingly being recognized as a bridge: it supports independence while addressing safety, health, and emotional well-being. From a care perspective, starting these services earlier can help families ease into support and build trust with caregivers - making transitions smoother when higher levels of care eventually become necessary.

How have you seen at-home care intersect with hospice or palliative work in your practice? Are families more open to support when it begins with smaller, proactive steps?

Home is a place of comfort and familiarity that you can escape to and decompress – no matter what challenges life presents to you. The importance of having a place

09/26/2025

Life has such a mysterious way of balancing itself. Last week, a friend of mine was commemorating one year since her mother’s passing. In that very same week, her daughter brought a new baby into the world.

A reminder of the circle of life - where endings and beginnings sit side by side, and love carries us through both. 💕

09/25/2025

Travel time for hospice employees can be surprisingly complicated. Should staff be paid when they drive straight from home to their first patient? Only part of the commute? The full commute? And what about the drive home at the end of the day?

This blog from Bradley Law Firm explores the topic and gives some insight. But travel time laws are tricky, and your agency may want legal guidance to stay compliant and keep employees happy.

Summer is over, kids are back in school, and parents (your hourly employees) are available again for more travel work. They may travel to meetings, job sites, and other locations regularly, occasionally, or once in a blue moon. You may find yourself asking: What “travel time” is compensable work...