Leadership, Quality, and the Future of Hospice: Guests Chris Comeaux and Cordt Kassner

Leadership, Quality, and the Future of Hospice: Guests Chris Comeaux and Cordt Kassner

Author: Alex Smith, Eric Widera March 5, 2026 Duration: 51:15

Today we're doing something different. Today, dear listeners, you get two podcasts for the price of one! (OK, our podcasts are both free, but you get the idea).

We're joined today by Chris Comeaux, host of TCN Talks, a podcast about leadership, strategy, innovation, and the future of serious illness care, and author of The Anatomy of Leadership. We are also joined by TCN Talks' frequent guest host Cordt Kassner, CEO of Hospice Analytics, which provides in depth data on hospice quality, utilization, and access, and publisher of Hospice and Palliative Care Today, a daily email about the hottest stories and news in the field.

This is an "ask us anything" style podcast in which we get to ask each other questions.  Our discussions focus on concerning trends in hospice, Ira Byock's white paper, concerning trends in hospice, certificate of need, danger of losing a generation of junior researchers and hope in the form of ASCENT, various measures of hospice quality including Cordt's National Hospice Locator, which ranks all area hospice by quality, unlike CMS's Hospice Care Compare, which only has star ratings for about 30% of hospices.

Hospice and palliative care are going through a tough growth period, and sometimes being real with your friends and colleagues in your field means tough love. Love hurts.  And no, I'm not attempting the Nazareth version!

-Alex Smith

 


Hosted by UCSF physicians Alex Smith and Eric Widera, GeriPal-A Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine Podcast creates a vital space for conversation at the intersection of aging and serious illness care. This isn't a dry lecture series; it's a dynamic dialogue where Eric and Alex bring on leading experts to unpack the complexities of geriatric and palliative medicine. They delve into the latest research that should change practice, tackle the ethical dilemmas that provoke debate, and explore the nuanced clinical challenges that professionals face daily. The tone is engaging and often surprisingly lighthearted, with moments of humor and even the occasional song, making profound topics more accessible. Whether you're a clinician, nurse, social worker, or any professional dedicated to this field, this podcast offers a blend of evidence-based insights and practical wisdom you can use. It’s a resource that acknowledges the weight of the work while fostering connection and continued learning. For those seeking formal education credits, AMA PRA Category 1 CME and MOC credit are also available through the show. Tune in to join a community committed to improving care for older adults and those with serious illness.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

GeriPal - A Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine Podcast
Podcast Episodes
Implementing Palliative Care in Nursing Homes [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:06
The need for better palliative care in nursing homes is significant. Consider this: the majority of the 1.4 million adults residing in U.S. nursing homes grapple with serious illnesses, and roughly half experience dement…
Lucid Episodes: Andrea Gilmore-Bykovskyi & Andrew Peterson [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:55
Have any of you watched the movie "The Notebook"? At the end, one of the characters, who has dementia, experiences an episode of lucidity. When I watched it, between tears (I'm a complete softie) I remember thinking, "Oh…
Music as Medicine: Jenny Chen, Tyler Jorgensen, & Theresa Allison [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:03
As you know, dear listeners, I love music. We start each podcast with a song in part to shift the frame, taking people out of their academic selves and into a more informal conversation. Well, today's guests love music a…
HIV, Aging, and Palliative Care: Peter Selwyn and Meredith Greene [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:59
Peter Selwyn, one of today's guests, has been caring for people living with HIV for over 40 years. In that time, care of people with HIV has changed dramatically. Initially, there was no treatment, then treatments with m…
Loss of DEI Hurts Everyone: Farah Stockman, Ali Thomas, Ken Covinsky [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:18
I read Farah Stockman's article in the NYT on why attacks on DEI will cost us all, and thought, "Yes, and 'everyone' includes harm to our healthcare workforce, our patients, and their families." So we're delighted that F…
RCT of PC in ED: Corita Grudzen, Fernanda Bellolio, & Tammie Quest [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:34
Early in my research career, I was fascinated by the (then) frontier area of palliative care in the emergency department. I asked emergency medicine clinicians what they thought when a patient who is seriously ill and DN…