When the Oral Route Closes

Drug prices are down under the IRA. For hospice, the real impact is financial stability, not formulary expansion.

Anorexia-cachexia syndrome causes appetite loss and muscle wasting in serious illness, driven by inflammation rather than simple hunger. Care focuses on comfort — offering favorite foods, considering medications like dexamethasone or olanzapine when appetite loss is distressing, and gently helping families understand that eating less is a normal part of the body winding down.

A practical look at Journavx and what its early promise, current evidence, and limitations may mean for hospice and palliative care.

Comfort kits are pre-packaged medications kept in the home that allow hospice caregivers to respond immediately to end-of-life symptoms like pain, anxiety, and shortness of breath. By ensuring the right medications are available when symptoms emerge, comfort kits help reduce after-hours costs, emergency visits, and unscheduled nursing calls while improving both care quality and caregiver satisfaction.

Learn when to stop statins in hospice care, including clinical rationale, side effects, and deprescribing guidance to reduce medication burden and improve comfort.

Hospice pharmacy benefits used to feel straightforward: manage a formulary, pay local pharmacies, and get medications to the bedside quickly. But simplicity has given way to PBM incentives that prioritize revenue over urgency, reshaping costs, workflows, and access when hospice care needs to move fast.

Topical ABH and ABHR  have been used for years in hospice and palliative care because they feel simple: apply to the wrist, avoid swallowing, reduce burden on families. But convenience isn’t the same as efficacy.

Hospice leaders across the country are seeing the same thing: PPD is rising even when utilization isn’t.

In late-stage dementia, balancing potential benefits against side effects requires clear communication, shared decision-making, and evidence-based guidance.

Wise Hospice Options is partnering with Buzz by Skyscape to make communication faster, simpler, and more secure for hospice teams.

Managing Wound Odor in Hospice Care — a straightforward guide to what’s actually working in the field, from hypochlorous cleansers to low-cost metronidazole prep.

In hospice care, the benefits of antiplatelet and anticoagulant therapy often diminish as risks rise — bleeding, pill burden, and falls can outweigh prevention.