Hospice News

OCTOBER 9, 2023

Calls have grown louder for an overhauled design of the Medicare Hospice Benefit, but the path towards change is riddled with contrasting views over regulation, policy and payment structures. One part of the issue is that hospice reimbursement has not kept pace with evolving patient needs, Grant said.

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Hospice News

JANUARY 15, 2025

Terminally ill patients often lack a firm understanding and awareness about their end-of-life care options, a trend researchers across the world are examining more closely. million Medicare decedents who died in 2018 and examined the differences in hospice utilization during the last year and a half of life.

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Hospice News

JULY 13, 2022

More than a dozen hospice advocacy groups have called on congressional leadership to intervene in a proposed 2.7% bump in Medicare payments, which they say is insufficient in light of COVID-19 and staffing headwinds. A key point of contention is that CMS used 2019 data to calculate the 2023 rate, including wages and cost reports.

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Hospice News

MAY 27, 2022

These include the audit system created by Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation (IMPACT) Act of 2014, and the two-tiered reimbursement for routine home care that reduced payment amounts after 60 days. Designed to prevent misuse of the Medicare Hospice Benefit, these efforts may have had unintended consequences.

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Hospice News

JULY 12, 2024

The forthcoming Hospice Care Accountability, Reform and Enforcement (Hospice CARE) Act from U.S. Blumenauer announced the bill in June at the Hospice News Elevate conference in Washington D.C. Hospice News / Merz Photography Hospice News / Merz Photography Rep. Hospice News photo by Merz Photography.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 9, 2023

Patients with dementia are less likely to receive hospice in their last month of life than those who have other diagnoses, 12.5% The Medicare Hospice Benefit initially was designed around the needs of cancer patients, but now the number of patients with other diagnoses is growing — some with less predictable disease patterns.

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Hospice News

MARCH 15, 2024

Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) can have an impact on mortality and morbidity among seriously ill patients, according to researchers of a 2019 study published in the Journal of Pain & Palliative Care Pharmacotherapy. Identification of risk factors for ADRs may prevent occurrences in the complex palliative care patient.”

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Hospice News

MARCH 3, 2023

RAND researchers analyzed Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) Survey data from 653,208 caregivers whose family members received care from 3,107 hospices between April 2017 and March 2019. hospices between 2019 and 2020. The remaining 3% were government organizations. The post RAND Corp.:

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Hospice News

MARCH 4, 2024

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will end the hospice component of the value-based insurance design model (VBID) as of Dec. Often called the “hospice carve-in,” the program was designed to test coverage of hospice care through Medicare Advantage, in addition to some coverage of palliative care and transitional care.

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 10, 2024

Cameron Muir has been named as the new CMO of the National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI). His new title signals the organization’s strategic plans to reshape hospice care delivery through patient-centered, innovative approaches, according to NPHI CEO Tom Koutsoumpas. “We

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Hospice News

MAY 17, 2024

The court also ordered Akula to repay $42 million in fraudulent Medicare billing claims made between January 2013 and December 2019, which totaled roughly $84 million during that six-year span. The charges included fraudulent claims for physician services and home visits, as well as manipulation of Medicare billing codes.

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 1, 2023

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has finalized its 2024 home health rule, including the implementation of a hospice Special Focus Program (SFP). The rule also finalizes the proposed “36-month”rule for hospice providers. CMS convened a Technical Expert Panel (TEP) to help design the program.

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Hospice News

MAY 8, 2024

A bill currently before Congress would extend through 2026 regulatory flexibilities related to telehealth, including the ability to recertify patients for hospice care. If a hospice is undergoing a period of enhanced oversight by the U.S. A range of stakeholders in the hospice space have voiced support for the legislation.

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Hospice News

JULY 16, 2024

The Pennsylvania state Senate has approved a bill proposing to expand staffing requirements around death proclamations to include a wider breadth of hospice clinicians. If enacted, the legislation would allow licensed practical nurses (LPNs) providing hospice care to make death pronouncements. Census Bureau.

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Hospice News

APRIL 21, 2023

Croix Hospice cares for over 4,000 patients from more than 60 locations in 10 Midwestern states. “Health care providers have been closing their doors across rural America, and Iowa is no exception,” Kim Kirschbaum, St. .” In 2019, people 65 or older represented 17.5% All told St. of the state’s population.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 2, 2022

Even when a hospice plays by the rules, death does not. When the Medicare Hospice Benefit became a permanent program in 1982, its parameters were designed specifically for cancer patients. of hospice enrollees in 2019, up from 9% in 2002, according to NHPCO. days for the overall hospice population.

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Hospice News

APRIL 7, 2023

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is seeking answers from the hospice community — including some around utilization patterns and non-hospice spending. The recently proposed 2024 hospice payment rule contained a 2.8% This includes items and services covered under Medicare Parts A, B, and D.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 8, 2023

This includes the revamping of the hospice survey process and the establishment of a Special Focus Program slated to begin in 2024, to name a few. What we would love for our lawmakers to do is really champion the program as it exists and make sure it’s protected from threats to its payment system,” Baird told Hospice News.

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Hospice News

APRIL 25, 2023

The hospital is located in Robeson County, North Carolina, which as of 2019 had a total population of roughly 116,000 people. In 2019, the most recent year for which county-specific data are available, 823 Robeson residents were admitted to a hospice. About 585 died while receiving hospice care that year.

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 7, 2022

(NYSE: WMT) and UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) will partner to offer a range of health care services to seniors enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans. The companies expect to serve hundreds of thousands of beneficiaries in value-based arrangements through multiple Medicare Advantage plans.

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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

JULY 21, 2023

As federal regulators intensify their focus on hospices, operators may begin seeing an influx of Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) activity. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) contracts with RACs to conduct post-payment reviews designed to recover any funds that may have been overspent. million.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 26, 2024

Researchers from New Jersey-based Rutgers University’s School of Nursing have found that patient preferences leaned toward home-based hospice services following home health experiences. million Medicare decedents who died in 2019. used home health care and 63.3% utilized hospice. Of those with dementia, 54.8%

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 29, 2023

A federal judge has sentenced Jesus Virlar-Cadena, formerly a medical director for the Texas-based hospice company Merida Group, to 50 months in prison for his role in a $152 million scheme. The Texas Medical Board suspended his medical license in 2019, when he pleaded guilty to the fraud charges.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 12, 2023

Hospice News sat down with providers, advocacy groups, legal experts and other stakeholders to uncover the most significant hospice regulatory trends from this year and their anticipated impacts heading into 2024 and beyond. The patient safety concerns bubbled up in 2019 with two reports from the U.S. In response, the U.S.

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Hospice News

MARCH 29, 2023

“For a hospice administrator or executive, you really have to be very focused on your length of stay data,” Young told Hospice News in a recent Elevate podcast episode. Are you in an outlier scenario with your data that Medicare contractors are looking at? Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the U.S.

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Hospice News

JANUARY 16, 2023

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. They included VA hospice encounters in the outcome but not enrollment in a home hospice program, nursing home hospice center or Medicare-paid hospice.

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Hospice News

MAY 1, 2023

In 2019, LifeTouch was in the red for a similar amount. Williamson Hospice House, because few patients in their region were receiving care outside of their homes. In its place, the organization made agreements with local hospitals to provide inpatient hospice care in their facilities.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 13, 2023

of Wisconsin’s overall population during 2019, according to the U.S. More than 35,000 people received hospice care in Wisconsin in 2021, according to the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Croix cares for over 4,000 patients from 60 locations in 10 Midwestern states.

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Hospice News

JUNE 27, 2024

Battling fraud Reports of unethical or illegal practices have surged, particularly among hundreds of newly certified hospices in California, Texas, Nevada and Arizona. Recent evidence indicates that more of these providers are being enrolled in Medicare despite the U.S. PCHETA was first introduced in 2017 and again in 2019.

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Hospice News

JULY 5, 2022

The availability of post-acute resources, including hospice and palliative care, has a significant impact on hospital readmissions, but greater coordination among providers could drive improvement. Researchers included a recommendation that CMS take community characteristics into account when evaluating hospital performance. .

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 19, 2023

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) should clarify timeframes associated with a proposed informal dispute resolution process for hospice providers and retool aspects of the agency’s forthcoming Special Focus Program, according to an industry group representing nonprofits. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

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Hospice News

MARCH 7, 2023

“The stairs are steeper in UPIC audits, which I think are some of the most serious and costly audits for hospices to deal with,” Pekarske told Hospice News. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) contracts UPICs to investigate instances of suspected fraud, waste and abuse. Stakes around UPICs The U.S.

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Hospice News

JUNE 17, 2022

One of the defining principles of hospice care is honoring the wishes of terminally ill patients. Now, with increasing frequency, a health care provider’s failure to honor those directives can lead to litigation or penalties by regulators. This can prevent or delay hospice care for individuals who chose to receive it. .

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 14, 2023

Home-based care, including hospice, has become an increasingly attractive space for facility-based health care providers of all walks. Assisted living and skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) have been joining the mix, taking varied routes to growth into home-based hospice care. Among the 1.6 Among the 1.6

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Hospice News

MARCH 14, 2024

In Calendar Year 2021, the share of hospice care days with nurse visits in the last seven days of life rose to 63%, up from 62% year over year, according to the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO). In 2019, for example, the percentage was 66%. CMS introduced SIA in 2016.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 16, 2024

Croix Hospice recently unveiled data showing how the company leveraged predictive analytics technology to improve quality outcomes. In 2019 the Minnesota-headquartered hospice provider began utilizing a predictive analytics tool from Medalogix. Croix Hospice. Through the predictive analytics data, hospice patients at St.

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