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VA Study Finds 95% Increase in Palliative Care Utilization When Patients Have Access to Social Workers

Hospice News

Patients are more likely to receive palliative care if they can access social workers through their primary care providers, Veterans Health Administration (VA) research has found. These findings suggest that social workers may increase access to and/or use of palliative care.”.

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How Medicare Budget Neutrality Impacts Hospice Payment

Hospice News

Medicare reimbursement is the lifeblood of hospice providers, and a clear understanding of policies like budget neutrality can help elucidate the payment systems that keep their businesses running. An earlier version of budget neutrality was phased out in 2016. But a similar move within the Medicare Hospice Benefit is unlikely.

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Hospices Stepping Up Performance on Visits-in-Last-Days-of-Life Measure

Hospice News

The number of registered nurse and social worker visits during a patient’s final week is one of the seven quality measures that CMS uses to evaluate providers. Social worker visits in the last days of life also rose to 9% in 2021, up from 7% in 2020. CMS introduced SIA in 2016.

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OIG Estimates $42 Million in Improper Medicare Payments for Advance Care Planning

Hospice News

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently reported the results of its audit of advance care planning (ACP) billing practices among Medicare-certified physicians and other health care providers. Office settings accounted for 61% of all ACP billing between 2016 and 2019, according to OIG.

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How Hospice and Palliative Care of the Wood River Valley Built a Collaborative Care Model Without Medicare Certification

Hospice News

After more than a decade working in hospice leadership, Alli Collins came across something she had never seen before — a financially viable, all-volunteer provider that is not Medicare-certified. I’ve spent well over a decade in the Medicare-certified side of the world. She never instituted a Medicare provider number.

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The Case for Integrating Social Determinants Into Palliative Care

Hospice News

Social determinants are non-medical needs that can have a significant impact on the trajectory of patients’ health, such as nutrition, transportation, social or caregiver support, and housing, among others. Social and economic factors like these drive 40% of health outcomes, according to the Better Medicare Alliance.

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Advance Care Planning Billing Rules Impede Equitable Access

Hospice News

On the patient side, Medicare beneficiaries face out-of-pocket costs when advance care planning is performed in any setting outside of an annual wellness visit. Across 150 different studies, white adults represented nearly two-thirds (65.1%) of roughly 800,000 individuals who had completed advance directives between 2011 and 2016.