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A Ventura County, California, physician has been sentenced to 24 months in federal prison for Medicare fraud for medically unnecessary hospice services. Dr. Victor Contreras worked for two hospices in Pasadena California Arcadia Hospice Provider Inc., and Saint Mariam Hospice Inc. Justice Department indicated.
The hospice industry is undergoing a transformative period of rising demand and regulatory changes. Levy recently sat down with Hospice News to discuss the array of regulatory and legislative evolutions on the horizon in hospice care delivery. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)] and Congress.
A federal jury has convicted Dr. John Thropay, a hospice medical director, on charges of health care fraud in a $2.8 Thropay was the medical director of several hospice companies, including Blue Sky Hospice, based in Van Nuys, California. The post Blue Sky Hospice Medical Director Convicted of $2.8M million scheme.
Illinois-based Oasis Hospice & Palliative Care Inc.s journey to open a new inpatient facility came with obstacles, but that has not slowed the hospices growth trajectory, according to CEO Hakeem Bello. The faith-based organization provides hospice, palliative care and bereavement services across three counties in Illinois.
Hospice of the Western Reserve has completed its affiliation with Hospice of North Central Ohio (HNCO), expanding its geographic presence in the Buckeye state. The two hospice providers in February announced the affiliation after signing a letter of intent to enter a Management Services Agreement. Photo by Pixelate Photography.
The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation ran the project between 2011 and 2015 at 32 participating hospitals and health systems. Every hospice provider should be fluent, whether it’s those four questions or their own vernacular.
NASDAQ: PNTG) has acquired Guardian Hospice and Guardian Hospice of Oklahoma for an undisclosed amount. Guardian Hospice of Oklahoma received Medicare certification in 2015 and has since grown its presence in the state and across Texas. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Census Bureau.
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) is poised to recommend that the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reduce the aggregate cap for hospice payments by 20% in 2024. of hospices exceeded the cap, MedPAC estimated. In 2015, the commission reported that 12.5% During 2020, about 18.6%
The lines of communication between hospice leaders and compliance executives need to be open and transparent in today’s regulatory environment. The complexities of hospice regulation alongside increased oversight in the space have led providers to zero in on compliance.
Given the critical role of family caregivers in home-based care, hospices have a vested interest in expanding their access to support. And while hospices offer social workers and spiritual care, many families continue to have unmet needs that could impede some patients’ access to hospice.
The Illinois legislature has passed a bill that would increase the maximum number of licensed hospice locations in each of the state’s counties to 16, up from five. In addition to boosting the maximum number of hospices, the forthcoming law would permit hospice facilities to care for as many as 24 patients, up from 20.
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has once again recommended a 20% cut to the aggregate cap for hospice payments. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) set the 2023 cap at $32,486.92, up from nearly $31,300 per patient for Fiscal Year 2022. of hospices exceeded the cap, MedPAC estimated.
Croix Hospice has been on a quest to conquer the Midwest through acquisitions and de novos. The company today announced its purchase of Adaptive Hospice from Help at Home, which brings St. The hospice provider is a portfolio company of the private equity firm H.I.G. Croix Hospice President and CFO Stephen Phenneger. “We
Alive Hospice Names New CEO Alive Hospice has tapped Kerry Hamilton as its new president and CEO. Hamilton takes the helm at the Nashville-based nonprofit hospice after previously serving as principal of the health care consulting firm Ten26 Health Group.
The recent article by the New Yorker and ProPublica that branded “hospice” as a profiteering “hustle” was an outrageous misrepresentation of the provider community. The National Hospice & Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO), for instance, filed an amicus brief with the court. Even when a hospice plays by the rules, death does not.
The clinical trial examined outcomes among 66 patients receiving care at nine cancer centers across Canada between July 25, 2015 and June 2, 2022. The post Palliative Radiation, Supportive Care Bring Pain Relief to Cancer Patients appeared first on Hospice News.
When it comes to hospice M&A, both buyers and sellers must have their eyes out for warning signs that could kill a potential deal. Consolidation remains widespread in the hospice space, though transaction volume has slipped in 2023 compared to prior years. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
Home-based care, including hospice, is an increasingly attractive space for health systems and hospitals — a trend that accelerated during the pandemic. of the country’s total population, according to a 2015 report by the U.S. Health systems are bringing care to the home by a number of routes. Census Bureau.
Hospices are leveraging expanded telehealth options to maximize access for hard-to-reach rural patients despite lingering regulatory uncertainties. ” Washington-based Providence Health System provides a range of facility- and home-based care, including senior services and hospice. We have to blast through these biases.
Angela Hospice’s New Senior Living Inpatient Facility Michigan-based Angela Hospice recently unveiled plans to open a new inpatient center at a senior living facility. Set to open this summer, the hospice facility will feature 15 patient beds at Lourdes Senior Community in Waterford, Michigan. The William B. and Janet B.
The bill builds upon the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) of 2015, designed to speed transitions to patient-centered, value-based care. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) develop more transparent financial benchmarks that account for regional variations in health care spending, Pittman added.
of the country’s total population, according to a 2015 report by the U.S. Countering this however, is the need for greater education for all stakeholders on the nature of these services and how they are distinct from hospice. For starters, we have the continued expansion of the chronically ill senior population. Census Bureau.
Stretching back more than a decade, a rising number of states have passed laws designed to raise awareness of hospice and palliative care, but to date, few if any have achieved measurable results. Some states offer hospice- and palliative care-themed license plates or designate an official Hospice and Palliative Care Awareness Month.
The nation’s fragmented payment structures for palliative care reimbursement create opportunities for regulators to examine the facets of these different models across varied geographic areas and patient populations, according to Fred Bentley, managing director for Medicare innovation at ATI Advisory. Nine of these bills were passed.
The COVID-19 public health emergency remains in effect,” an HHS spokesperson told Hospice News in an email. “As As the PHE lingers, so do questions around what it has brought to the table for hospices. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to remain intact.
Palliative care, pediatric end-of-life care and end-of-life doula (EOLD) services are top of mind for hospices that are diversifying their services in 2024. There’s going to be so much change around value-based care coming in some way, shape or form for hospices,” Kudner told Hospice News.
John Thropay, a former medical director for several hospice companies, to 37 months in prison for his involvement in a $2.8 million hospice fraud scheme. Among the companies for which Thropay worked was Blue Sky Hospice, located in Van Nuys, California.
By the Bay Health and Mission Hospice & Home Care recently signed a letter of intent to merge the two California-organizations. The new organization – combining two of the longest-standing not-for-profit hospices in California – would be uniquely positioned to serve more patients and families.”
Two major shifts are transforming the landscape of hospice. First, private equity firms are gobbling up hospices. Thus, they have little in the way of long term vision for hospices, instead focused on cutting costs and maximizing profits. . People with dementia make up about half of hospice admissions. AlexSmithMD.
Racial and socioeconomic disparities in hospice and palliative care have been persistent problems in the field for decades, including among communities of Asian origin. To help providers close some of those gaps, the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) has released a new Chinese American Resource Guide. .
It was a grand slam if we just learn how to care differently, whether it’s supportive questions, your own vernacular …,” Ihrig told Hospice News at the ELEVATE conference in Chicago. “We Hospice News / RoboToaster Hospice News / RoboToaster Dr. Timothy Ihrig, CEO, Ihrig MD & Associates. Hospice News photo.)
In this Voices interview, Hospice News sits down with Deanna Douglass, PharmD, SVP, Business Development, Enclara Pharmacia, to learn about the parallels between hospice and the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly, or PACE. Hospice News: We have talked previously about your extensive experience in hospice pharmacy.
De novos have propelled recent growth among some hospice providers. Hospice of the Midwest expands with de novo Hospice of the Midwest recently opened a de novo in Marshalltown, Iowa, adding a fifth location to its footprint in the state. The hospice provider also has two locations in Minnesota and one in Nebraska.
She went to an inpatient hospice and they kept her comfortable for a couple of weeks and she passed away. And we know that a third of Medicare beneficiaries undergo surgery in the last year of life with 18% of those occurring in the last month of life. They’re all Medicare beneficiaries. And it was the right thing to do.
This unexpectedly and undesirably increased health insurers’ medication costs, including Medicare and Medicaid (22). Competing Interests : Dr. Kollas recently served as Secretary on the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM).
We additionally discussed hospice care as an option for care that might follow the trial of rehabilitation. I moved to Boston in 2015 to start my PhD and I’ve always worked clinically at MGH during the process, but I was very interested in this notion of measuring function and frailty. That’s the problem.
” Dr. Kotwal’s work showing how social isolation impacts end-of-life health care use , including hospice and acute care. And then the second one in 2015. I moved to Baltimore in 2015 and did clinical fellowship in geriatrics. Many people starting to talk about loneliness epidemic. Eric: How about you, Thomas?
Hospice sends nurses, aides, and other caregivers to the homes of patients with advanced, terminal illnesses. Expert consensus holds that people should receive hospice for three to six months. families, time in hospice falls short of recommendations. families, time in hospice falls short of recommendations.
GeriPal podcast with Tom Gill on the Precipitating Events Study, distressing symptoms, disability, and hospice. Julien, let’s start off with, congratulations by the way and Lauren too, the CHEST paper that just got published on Trends in Geriatric Conditions Among Older Adults in the ICU between 1998 and 2015.
Devon, I see that you have an R21 to study concurrent prescribing of opioids and benzodiazepines, which are like the second most common thing I prescribe in combination after opioids and laxatives for people in hospice. And so, for-profit hospices, for-profit methadone clinics pop up everywhere, and their care is pretty variable.
And to do that, we’re joined by hospice pioneer, Barbara Karnes. She has won the N H P C O Hospice Innovator Award in 2018, and she was the 2015 International Humanitarian Woman of the Year. She has won the N H P C O Hospice Innovator Award in 2018, and she was the 2015 International Humanitarian Woman of the Year.
An excerpt from that blog here: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has consulted with Acumen in an effort to establish a comprehensive approach to Medicare Part A PPS SNF payment reform. Assess the impact of the payment alternative on SNF residents, SNF providers, and the overall Medicare system. Well, great news!
AAHPM (American Academy of Hospice and Palliative)
AUGUST 11, 2023
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), followed by health plans, usually sets the general tone of quality assessment and incentives, thus influencing the allocation of resources to specific programs in the short and long term. Center to Advance Palliative Care (2015). References: Aldridge MD, Kelley AS. 2015.302889.
Don’t get me wrong, the evidence points to cost savings, but as Chris Callahan and Kathleen Unroe pointed out in a JAGS editorial in 2020 “in comprehensive dementia care models, savings may accrue to Medicare, but the expenses accrue to a fluid and unstable network of local service providers, patients, and their families.” 2015, 2016.
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