Hospice News

JUNE 23, 2023

The Illinois Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (IL-HPCO) has penned a three-year association management contract with The HAP Foundation to provide counsel and operational support. The foundation also offers consulting in end-of-life care and expanding the community health worker profession.

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Hospice News

JUNE 7, 2023

Hospice leaders and lawmakers are meeting on Capitol Hill today to address the pressing issue of program integrity, among other policy priorities. Thus far, California is the only state to take action on the issue, beginning with a moratorium on new hospice licenses and an extensive audit of California’s oversight processes.

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 5, 2023

The home health and hospice provider recently announced the leadership changes in a filing with the U.S. Ginn began leading financial teams at Amedisys in 2007, while Guidroz previously served as senior vice president of accounting at Amedisys since June 2018. McLeod was most recently a health care consultant at CD&M Consulting.

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 17, 2022

Early advance care planning can help strengthen trust between providers and patients and families, according to a recent report from Compassion & Choices and the National Hispanic Council on Aging. As with other demographic groups, hospice utilization among Hispanic, Latino and Latinx populations is low in comparison to Caucasians.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 15, 2023

Members of Congress are seeking answers from federal regulators on hospice program integrity as industry advocacy groups call for further action. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), asking for the agency to brief them on fraud and abuse within the hospice benefit. Beth Van Duyne (R-Texas) and Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.)

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 2, 2022

A lack of culturally inclusive care and mistrust of the health system are contributing to low hospice utilization among Native Americans. Native Americans are the least likely to enroll in hospice among racial and ethnic groups. Many in that community also lack access due to geographic and financial barriers. More than 6.5

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 14, 2022

Hospice provider Agape Care Group has acquired GHC Hospice for an undisclosed sum, furthering the company’s goal of multistate expansion through the Southeast. With the addition of GHC locations, Agape Care Group’s 1,450 employees will be caring for close to 3,600 patients. Utilization in South Carolina topped 50.8%

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Hospice News

JULY 14, 2022

The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Somerset health system is halting inpatient services at its Pennsylvania-based hospice facility, effective Aug. Closure of the In Touch Hospice center has inflamed the community, with cries growing louder to urge UPMC to reconsider the move.

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 20, 2022

If enacted, the legislation would remove co-pays and patient fees for advance care planning (ACP) services, allow social workers to conduct these conversations, expand provider education about associated billing codes, and improve reporting on barriers to ACP utilization. One is removing the copay for any potential cost barrier.

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Hospice News

APRIL 22, 2022

Francis Reflections Lifestage Care recently opened a new inpatient hospice care center inside the Melbourne Regional Medical Center. A swelling demand for hospice in the community spurred the unit’s development. Francis Reflections Melbourne Care Center includes a private bathroom and overnight space for loved ones.

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 16, 2022

For terminally ill patients who lack secure housing or loved ones to care for them, hospice is typically not an option. Organizations called comfort care homes have been working to fill this gap. These are generally nonprofit residential facilities that will give patients a place to stay while they receive hospice care.

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Hospice News

MAY 18, 2023

But defining the range of communities that specifically lack access to hospice and palliative care can be a moving target. Hospices should apply a wide and varied lens when examining the populations in greatest need of end-of-life care, Garrett indicated. Hospice News photo.)

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Hospice News

JUNE 28, 2022

As hospice providers contend with industry-wide nursing shortages, some are taking matters into their own hands with in-house residency programs. A lack of hospice-specific clinical training is a significant recruitment barrier. So some hospices have decided to offer that education themselves.

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Hospice News

JUNE 6, 2022

Hospice of the Red River Valley recently began construction on a new inpatient facility in North Dakota. Set to open by 2024, Heather’s House will expand hospice care options for both adult and pediatric patients. . Development of the hospice house has been a long journey. COVID absolutely pushed it.

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 19, 2022

Two hospices have lost the battle against workforce shortages, with one halting some of its service lines and another shutting down altogether. Hospice and Home Care of Juneau shutters. Alaska-based Hospice and Home Care of Juneau (HHCJ) recently announced its closure, citing high staffing costs and lack of clinicians.

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 22, 2022

A key barrier to building that workforce is that most clinicians receive little to no exposure to those types of care during their training. A 2018 study showed that most students in clinical disciplines do not feel prepared to provide family care at the end of life. Regional programs cropping up. “As

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Hospice News

JANUARY 26, 2024

These include the home, skilled home care and institutional care. The study spanned data among 199,828 Medicare decedents 50 and older who died in 2018. More than half (59%) spent the last three years of life in the home. About 27% were in skilled nursing home care with “heavy use” of home health and hospice.

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 21, 2022

Federal oversight is needed to stem harmful and potentially illegal practices associated with a proliferation of new providers in several states, four of the nation’s largest hospice industry groups wrote to U.S. Arizona had 239 new Medicare-certified hospices appear between 2018 and 2022, representing 52% of all providers in the state.

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Hospice News

MAY 26, 2022

Trinity Health at Home recently acquired Iowa-based Above & Beyond Home Health Care and Hospice for an undisclosed sum. The two will officially join forces on July 1 in a move aimed at expanding much-needed care in local communities. Above & Beyond has provided home health and hospice care across eastern Iowa since 2004.

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Hospice News

MARCH 15, 2024

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has recommended to Congress a freeze on hospice payment increases starting in 2025. In its annual report to Congress, MedPAC urged policymakers to eliminate hospice base-rate increases for 2025. The 2021 aggregated Medicare hospice margin was 13.3%, according to MedPAC.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 28, 2024

Hospice of Cincinnati Unveils New Hospital-Based Inpatient Unit Hospice of Cincinnati has opened a new inpatient unit at The Christ Hospital. Auburn, Ohio, with the new inpatient hospice unit featuring 10 patient beds, a chapel and a family gathering space. The hospital is located in Mt.

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Hospice News

JULY 5, 2022

Iowa-based Hospice of Washington County is rebuilding and relocating its administrative offices, which also houses the provider’s palliative care clinic. The hospice received a $60,464 grant from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship to fund the rebuild, part of a statewide water quality improvement project.

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Hospice News

JULY 6, 2022

Hospice of Morrow County has joined forces with Ohio’s Hospice of Central Ohio, a member of a regional partnership of providers in the state. . Hospice of Morrow County has joined forces with Ohio’s Hospice of Central Ohio, a member of a regional partnership of providers in the state. Seniors currently represent 17.5%

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 4, 2022

“When we think really along the lines of that full continuum [of home-based care], we are developing our provider line, or home health line and hospice,” Choice Health at Home CEO David Jackson previously told Hospice News. “We With that infusion of capital, Choice purchased Kindful Hospice and Amed Home. The state’s 1.3

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 16, 2022

NYSE: HCA) and the University of Central Florida (UCF) recently added a new graduate fellowship in hospice and palliative care medicine to their existing repertoire of training programs. Demand for culturally diverse hospice and palliative care in Florida is growing as minority aging populations swell.

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 23, 2022

Ohio’s Hospice Lifecare has partnered with a local college to grow its workforce through an emergency medical technician (EMT) internship program. The hospice began offering the EMT certification program to staff in January before recently expanding it as an internship through a collaboration with The College of Wooster.

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Hospice News

APRIL 17, 2024

The case has significance for hospice providers nationwide as CMS and its contractors continue to ramp up audits. We were given a mostly favorable decision by the administrative law judge, and CMS appealed that decision to the CMS panel,” Hagfors told Hospice News. “We’ve 1, 2016 and Dec. 31, 2017.

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Hospice News

AUGUST 12, 2022

Croix Hospice continues to stretch its footprint across the Midwest with a de novo located in the southern region of its home state. The hospice has provided services in and around these communities for some time. Croix has no plans to slow down its expansion, Bartness previously told Hospice News. Minnesota-based St.

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Hospice News

MARCH 27, 2024

The University of South Florida (USF) College of Nursing has launched a graduate certificate program in palliative care and hospice. The program is designed to help nurses pass the Certified Hospice and Palliative Nurse (CHPN®) exam. Patients have better outcomes when cared for by certified nurses, which is paramount.”

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 12, 2022

South Dakota-based Avera@Home recently formed a joint venture with personal care provider Kore Cares in a move that grew its service line and geographic reach in the state. Avera@Home Hospice offers hospice, home health and home medical equipment services throughout the Upper Midwest.

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 10, 2022

This could include improving patient awareness and access about the end-of-life care options in and around their regions. Roughly half (50.7%) of Medicare decedents elected hospice in 2018, reported the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO).

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Hospice News

AUGUST 18, 2022

Maryland-based hospice and palliative care provider Gilchrist recently formed a joint venture with the hospital system Luminis Health to expand the full scope of senior and geriatric care in the state’s southern region. You can’t do that if you don’t contract and work with someone to provide hospice care.

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Hospice News

MAY 22, 2023

Though older Asian-American adults may be less likely to discuss pain and symptom management needs with their health care professionals, they may be more receptive to the psychosocial support included in hospice and palliative care, according to recent research from VITAS’ Healthcare. between 2010 and 2019. They represent 1.8%

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Hospice News

AUGUST 9, 2022

“These are really difficult conversations to have with anyone, but there’s been so much trauma in the LGBTQ+ community that providers need to have a real understanding about,” Fitting told Hospice News. The hospice, home health and palliative care provider serves close to 40,000 patients.

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

Concern is mounting around whether current health equity initiatives will be a flash in the pan or yield long term improvement on reducing disparities in hospice care among communities of color. Misconceptions and a lack of understanding of the nature of hospice are among the most prevalent contributing factors, Deese indicated.

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Hospice News

JULY 21, 2022

If enacted, the bill would clarify that patients receiving end-of-life care could access Schedule 1 controlled substances that have undergone a Phase 1 clinical trial, including MDMA and psilocybin. A number of states have “Right to Try” laws on their books, and a federal law was instituted in 2018. and Rand Paul (R-Ky.)

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Hospice News

AUGUST 26, 2022

She returns to the company after nearly three years at the helm of San Diego-based The Elizabeth Hospice as its chief strategy officer. In her new role, she’ll oversee the company’s staff providing care across five counties in the state’s southern region. Kauai Hospice Recruits Retired Emergency Doc as Medical Director.

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