Hospice Keys

06/16/2026

06/12/2026

One of the most meaningful parts of hospice and palliative care is helping patients preserve their voice, values, and legacy.

This article explores Dignity Therapy, an evidence-based approach that helps patients facing serious illness reflect on their lives, share messages with loved ones, and find peace during the end-of-life journey.

These conversations can reduce anxiety, foster connection, and remind families that dignity is not lost in illness.

Compassionate care includes emotional, spiritual, and legacy-centered support for every patient and family. 💛

Dignity Therapy is a form of psychotherapy designed to help people with serious illness process their final stage of life and to help loved ones grieve.

06/10/2026

In hospice care, organizations cannot rely solely on annual compliance training and expect consistent outcomes. Sustainable compliance happens when regulations, documentation standards, and operational safeguards are embedded directly into everyday clinical workflows.

When compliance is built into the process:
- Clinicians are supported in real time
- Documentation accuracy improves
- Risk exposure decreases
- Patient care quality strengthens

Healthcare organizations must move beyond “train and hope” models and create systems where compliant behavior becomes the natural workflow rather than an added burden.

By Michelle Barlow RN BSN - Hospice providers are entering a tougher regulatory environment. Oversight is increasing, audits and surveys are drawing more attention to day-to-day ex*****on, and documentation is carrying more financial weight. Beyond regulation, these requirements also play an importa...

06/08/2026

Grief is deeply personal.

It can show up in the quietest moments - looking through old photos, hearing a familiar voice, sitting at a table with an empty chair, or laughing through memories with the people who understand.

There is no single “right” way to grieve. Each person carries loss differently, because each relationship was different.

At its heart, grief is often love continuing in a new form.

Every grief story is different…
because every love story is different.

06/07/2026

Although this article focuses on hospice care, the emotional burden that it discusses exists across healthcare. Clinicians carry memories of difficult cases, patient losses, heartbreaking family conversations, and moments where a patient rapidly declined despite everyone trying their best.

Even after those challenging moments, healthcare professionals are still expected to continue caring for others with compassion and professionalism.

Healthcare workers are human beings first, and conversations around grief, emotional exhaustion, and compassion fatigue deserve far more attention than they currently receive.

A dedicated hospice nurse shares a tragic story of a patient dying alone, revealing the hidden burden of clinician grief. Support hospice care workers today.

06/05/2026

Grief is like a fingerprint. No two people experience it the same way. 💙

06/04/2026

Ohio's new Medicaid fraud prevention initiatives highlight an important trend for hospice and home healthcare providers nationwide.

CMS has encouraged states to assess whether provider moratoriums and additional enrollment controls may be appropriate for their Medicaid and CHIP programs. Ohio's latest actions suggest the state is responding to that guidance with enhanced oversight and program integrity measures.

As regulators continue focusing on fraud prevention, providers should expect increased attention on enrollment practices, documentation, compliance programs, and operational accountability.

For hospice organizations, the message is clear: strong compliance and operational excellence are becoming increasingly important at both the federal and state levels.

Ohio has launched sweeping Medicaid fraud initiatives targeting home health and hospice providers—including enrollment moratoria, payment suspensions, and GPS mandates.

06/03/2026

“Economies of skill” is an interesting way to frame where healthcare is heading.

As value-based care expands, healthcare organizations are being forced to think differently about staffing, coordination, logistics, and access, especially in hospice and serious illness care.

One thing that shouldn’t get lost in all of this: High tech cannot replace high touch care.

Technology should help clinicians spend more time with patients, not less.

Another important point in this discussion is equitable access to care - not just equal access. Those are very different things in practice.

In time, value-based care will come to hospices, and they must be ready, according to Kent Anderson, CEO of Ohio’s Hospice. In this environment, scale

06/02/2026

Community trust is built through compassion, consistency, and mission-driven care.

For hospice organizations, being trusted by the community means becoming part of something deeper than service delivery. It means becoming a dependable presence for patients, families, referral partners, staff, and volunteers at life’s most vulnerable moments.

When a community believes in your mission and your ability to deliver that mission, your work becomes irreplaceable.