Hospice News

JANUARY 17, 2024

Hospice providers, industry groups and other stakeholders recently penned a letter urging Congress to improve payment infrastructures that would increase access to end-of-life care among rural populations. So, for access to rural care, we’re going to have to depend on smaller rural programs.

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Hospice News

JULY 9, 2024

Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston applied an AI algorithm to facilitate timely transitions to hospice for patients presenting in the emergency department. After this effort was initiated in 2021, about 54% of eligible patients elected the hospice benefit, compared to 22% in years prior, a new study in JAMA Network Open indicated.

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Hospice News

AUGUST 20, 2024

New York state’s new Center for Hospice and Palliative Care recently launched with an aim to increase utilization and goal-concordant outcomes among swelling aging populations in the Empire State. Kathy Hochul approved a bill designed to expand awareness of advance care planning, hospice and palliative care.

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 6, 2024

Beth Van Duyne (R-Texas) and Jimmy Panetta (D-California) have introduced a bill that would reform aspects of the hospice Special Focus Program (SFP). If enacted, the Enhancing Hospice Oversight and Transparency Act also would increase the penalty for hospices that do not report quality measure data to 10% by 2027, up from 4% currently.

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Hospice News

AUGUST 27, 2024

Trust and collaborative communication are essential to hospice executive teams seeking to weather a changing health care system. The nonprofit health system provides home care, hospice, palliative and dementia care across Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts. It’s so important, given the role of the CMO.

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Hospice News

JANUARY 12, 2024

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has voted to recommend a freeze on hospice payment increases starting in 2025. This recommendation is offered at a time when hospice care costs have risen faster than any inflation update provided by CMS,” Dombi told Hospice News in an email. “A

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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

MARCH 13, 2024

As hospice program integrity remains in the spotlight, California remains the only state to take action on curbing the problem. Beginning in 2021, numerous reports emerged of unethical or illegal practices among hundreds of newly licensed hospices, particularly among new companies popping up in California, Texas, Nevada and Arizona.

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 18, 2023

Aging, incarcerated populations often have poor end-of-life care experiences, with a lack of trained hospice workers at the crux of the issue. It’s terrible how many men and women are experiencing their last days or hours of life in prison,” Garlock told Hospice News.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 9, 2024

Florida-based Big Bend Hospice has unveiled a new inpatient hospice unit on the third floor of Tallahassee Memorial Hospital (TMH). Most Americans want to spend their last moments at home, surrounded by their loved ones,” said Dr. Deborah Morris, chief medical officer for Big Bend Hospice, said in a statement. Census Bureau.

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 16, 2024

YoloCares has announced its disaffiliation from the California Hospice Network (CHN) after three years of collaborative partnership. CHN is a coalition of nonprofit hospices designed to support the growth of community-based hospice care and leverage their collective scale and resources in value-based payment programs.

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Hospice News

JULY 12, 2024

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.

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Hospice News

JULY 3, 2023

and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) recently re-introduced legislation designed to expand the palliative care workforce. The two lawmakers, along with others, also brought forth a second bill designed to ensure that hospice patients who need blood transfusions can receive them. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.)

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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 served in that same role before being promoted to CFO in 2017 and executive vice president in 2021. The company in June announced plans to acquire the massive home health and hospice provider Amedisys for $3.3

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Hospice News

JUNE 10, 2024

The home-based care provider Compassus has established a partnership with the health system OhioHealth to deliver home health and hospice services. Through this collaboration, Compassus will manage the two organizations’ collective home health and hospice operations. 2023, as well as similar arrangements with other providers.

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Hospice News

JANUARY 26, 2024

Rebranding a hospice company following a merger or acquisition is a more complex process than it may seem at first blush. While consolidation slowed in 2023, many industry observers expect a rebound in 2024, though perhaps not to the record-breaking levels seen in 2021.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 21, 2023

The hospice and senior care provider Helios Care is partnering with the integrated health system Bassett Healthcare Network to bring more extensive access to hospice and palliative care to patients in central New York.

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 1, 2024

The data come at a time when hospices are striving to better understand how to improve those groups’ end-of-life trajectories. Technology utilization has gained momentum in health care, including in hospice care delivery. Coupled with the telehealth disparities are inequities pertaining to hospice care.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 13, 2023

VITAS Healthcare Expands Hospital-Based Inpatient Hospice Center Chemed Corp. NYSE: CHE) VITAS Healthcare recently expanded its inpatient hospice care unit at the Florida-based Broward Health Medical Center. Miami-based VITAS has provided community- and facility-based hospice care in the Broward County area since 1980.

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Hospice News

JANUARY 11, 2023

Ohio-based Queen City Hospice, an Addus Homecare (NASDAQ: ADUS) company, recently opened a new location in its home state. The new location in Fayetteville, Ohio, adds a central office in a rural region of the hospice’s service area that will reduce staff travel time. Census Bureau. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 20, 2023

Guaranteed’s New SVP of Growth, Strategy Tech-enabled hospice startup Guaranteed has named Ryan Malone as its new senior vice president of growth and strategy. Before joining Guaranteed, Malone served as vice president of sales and partnerships at mental health provider Thriveworks since 2021. The funding follows a $6.5

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Hospice News

JULY 18, 2023

Hospice & Community Care has inked a deal to affiliate with Hospice of Central Pennsylvania. These can represent significant expenses for hospice and palliative care providers in today’s reimbursement climate. Each hospice has provided care in their respective communities for roughly 40 years.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 14, 2022

National health care expenditures in the U.S. trillion in 2021, according to a new analysis from the Office of the Actuary at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). These sources continue to provide funding in 2021, but at much lower levels and in 2020.”. The health care sector accounted for 18.3%

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 8, 2024

The continued licensing of new hospices in California despite a moratorium is “deeply disturbing and frustrating,” the California Hospice Network (CHN) indicated in a statement. The practice is undermining efforts to combat hospice fraud, which has been rampant in California according to media and state government investigations.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 7, 2023

She became a hospice nurse for By the Bay Health in 1996, then named Hospice of Marin, taking on various roles in clinical leadership throughout her more than 27-year tenure. “It Previously known as Hospice by the Bay, the organization rebranded in 2021 to reflect a broadening scope of services.

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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

APRIL 29, 2022

The Medicare Advantage hospice carve-in has been the focus of much attention among providers, and many are watching closely for the demonstration’s outcomes. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) launched the MCCM in 2016 to explore the idea of allowing hospice patients to receive concurrent curative care.

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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

JUNE 16, 2023

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) is seeking answers about hospice patients’ access to certain high-cost services. CMS included a series of requests for information (RFIs) in its proposed 2024 hospice payment rule. CMS is getting on board with thinking through this problem,” Hoover told Hospice News. “We

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Hospice News

MARCH 30, 2023

Ohio’s Hospice is deepening its relationship with United Church Homes (UCH) to expand hospice and palliative care options for the senior living and support services organization’s residents. Ohio’s Hospice is a statewide alliance of nonprofit providers established in 2013.

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Hospice News

MAY 16, 2023

Nashville-based Alive Hospice recently responded to speculation that the nonprofit will sell its operations to a for-profit company, a move that has sparked cries of opposition within the local community. A spate of news reports have indicated that Alive Hospice may be up for sale to a publicly traded for-profit entity.

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Hospice News

JANUARY 2, 2023

The number of hospice volunteers plunged during the first two years of the pandemic, and many are still working to rebuild their ranks. Many hospices saw volunteer volumes dip drastically as they suspended activities during the pandemic. Their services reduced the hospice’s costs by an average of 6%, a rise from 5.5%

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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

AUGUST 14, 2023

Past payment model demonstrations that included community-based palliative care offer a window into how these services could generate cost savings and improved quality. Among those demos is the Medicare Care Choices Model (MCCM), which ran between 2016 and 2021.

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 3, 2024

Disruptive reimbursement and regulatory challenges are top of mind for today’s hospice c-suite executives, who recently sat down with Hospice News to discuss what they see as the largest hurdles to sustainable end-of-life care delivery. Payment reform is top of the list of biggest concerns,” she told Hospice News.

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 23, 2022

As health and hospital systems show a growing interest in home-based care, the competitive landscape for hospices could change — both in terms of market share and staff recruitment. . Some hospice providers feel that this represents a conflict of interest for health systems,Dresang said.

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Hospice News

APRIL 8, 2024

HopeHealth has been growing its pediatric hospice and supportive care service lines in recent years to address a range of unmet needs among seriously ill children and their families. HopeHealth provides home care, hospice, palliative and dementia care, as well as caregiver and grief support services.

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