Hospice News

OCTOBER 18, 2024

The Indiana Association for Home & Hospice Care (IAHHC) has unveiled a new employee support program designed to help with retention of much needed workforce resources in end-of-life care. Connect program was in part driven by increasing recognition of the perils of staff burnout and turnover in home health and hospice.

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Hospice News

JANUARY 25, 2024

National hospice utilization rates have fallen since 2020, though the total number of patients served remains consistent. The aging population continues to increase, so even as the percentage of patients served decreases, the total number of patients served increases,” Ware told Hospice News. “The In 2021, 1.71 About 47.3%

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 25, 2024

VITAS Launches New Florida Location VITAS Healthcare has opened a new location in Florida, expanding the hospice provider’s footprint in its home state. The location will serve as a hub for staff providing hospice services across Pasco County, where seniors 65 and older represent 21.8% Dozier Hospice House.

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Hospice News

JUNE 21, 2024

Bristol Hospice has acquired Mississippi-based Mid-Delta Hospice, a move that marked its entry into the state. The decision to launch services in a new state came with growing recognition around rising demand for home health and hospice care, according to Bristol Hospice CEO and President Alex Mauricio.

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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

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

JULY 10, 2024

The Ohio-based health system Adena Health has unveiled a hospice and home health joint venture with Alternate Solutions Health Network (ASHN). The JV, branded as Adena Home Health and Hospice, will launch next month, providing care to seriously and terminally ill patients in south central and southern Ohio. Census Bureau.

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HopeHealth

AUGUST 16, 2022

Attleboro, MA — According to patients, families and caregivers in Massachusetts, HopeHealth’s hospice care and HopeHealth Community VNA’s home health care are among the nation’s best. In 2021 in the Bay State, HopeHealth and HopeHealth Community VNA ranked in Read More.

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Hospice News

MARCH 14, 2024

Hospices, in aggregate, are showing improvement on the quality measure for visits in the last days of life. 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).

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 13, 2023

Implementation of the Medicare Advantage hospice carve-in has been challenging for both payers and providers, though a recent analysis indicates that it may get easier over time. to conduct the analysis of the program, formally called the hospice component of the value-based insurance design model (VBID).

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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

MAY 25, 2023

Massachusetts-based Advanced Home Care has acquired Dignity Hospice Care for an undisclosed amount. The transaction follows Advanced Home Care’s acquisition of Dignity Home Care late last year. The buyer company’s CEO Art Kalenjian will now take the helm at Dignity Hospice.

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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. For some rural areas, they’re not seen as financially feasible or sustainable to larger programs,” Kuhlman told Hospice News. “So,

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HopeHealth

DECEMBER 30, 2021

HopeHealth recaps its top 5 most popular blog stories of 2021. Topics included family love and empathy, end-of-life spiritual questions, the science of hospice care, pandemic myths and the nursing profession. The post What were the top 5 stories of HopeHealth’s 2021 blog? appeared first on HopeHealth.

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Hospice News

JUNE 27, 2024

Hospices have been advocating for lawmakers and regulators to take action on curbing fraud, supporting veterans and bolstering the health care workforce. Battling fraud Reports of unethical or illegal practices have surged, particularly among hundreds of newly certified hospices in California, Texas, Nevada and Arizona.

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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

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

MAY 7, 2024

Fraudulent hospices continue to proliferate, and some may be moving between states to escape regulators. 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

AUGUST 7, 2024

Hospice reimbursement trends influence palliative care payment and delivery. Among the significant changes coming this year is the end of the hospice component of the value-based insurance design (VBID) model, as of Dec. Alivia Supportive Care launched in 2020 as the nonprofit’s home-based palliative care service line.

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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

JUNE 3, 2024

Hospice industry organizations have voiced support for proposed updates to the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) surveys, but raised questions on the implementation timeline. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) included the updates in its proposed hospice payment rule for 2025.

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Hospice News

MARCH 23, 2023

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is extending the value-based insurance design demonstration for calendar years 2025 to 2030, including the hospice component. The hospice component of VBID, also called the MA carve-in, launched in 2021 and was originally slated to complete after four years. It makes sense.

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 27, 2024

This reality is driving some hospices to forge stronger collaborations with providers of after-loss services. Marylander is also a licensed clinical social worker and practiced law for 35 years prior to stepping into health care. “One Hathaway’s challenges inspired the launch of PALS’ after-loss services in 2021.

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Hospice News

MARCH 21, 2024

Members of Congress are raising questions about the continued Medicare certification for new hospices in areas rife with fraud. Though he pledged more detailed responses at a later date, Becerra told lawmakers that CMS is certifying hospices in markets where there is a need identified in the community. “I Michelle Steel (R-Calif.)

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Hospice News

JUNE 5, 2024

A slew of fraudulent hospices in California are dodging consequences by shuffling patients around between provider numbers. That’s according to multiple sources who spoke with Hospice News, expressing their concerns about patterns of fraud continuing even as government regulators crack down on the sector.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 8, 2024

After 75 years of service, Georgia-based hospice provider Visiting Nurse Health System (VNHS) has its sights set on the future. Founded in 1948, the organization was the first home-based care provider to operate in Georgia, and in 1975 launched the state’s first hospice program. Seniors represented 14.7%

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Hospice News

APRIL 8, 2024

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) 2025 proposed hospice rule contained requests for information (RFIs) that could signal changes in the agency’s thinking on key issues. Through RFIs, CMS tries to take the pulse of providers’ positions on certain questions that could impact the Medicare Hospice Benefit.

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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

DECEMBER 19, 2023

Residential Hospice has acquired Illinois-based Safe Haven Hospice from the senior living provider Christian Horizons for an undisclosed sum. “We share a commitment of putting patients and families first by providing exceptional care focused on optimizing the quality of life, comfort and dignity of our patients.”

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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

JUNE 2, 2023

Hosparus Health has acquired Baptist Health Deaconess Hospice in Madisonville, Kentucky, for an undisclosed sum. Founded in 1978, Hosparus Health’s 600 employees and 500 volunteers provide care for more than 10,000 patients annually, including hospice, medical care, palliative medicine, mental health and bereavement services. “Our

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Hospice News

MARCH 13, 2023

Utah-based Summit Hospice has agreed to settle allegations of False Claims Act violations for $1.05 OIG alleged in a recent report that Summit Hospice violated the False Claims Act (FCA) by submitting claims to Medicare and Medicaid for non-covered hospice services. 7, 2021 and Oct. Summit Hospice denied the allegations.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 9, 2022

The hospice component of the value-based insurance design (VBID) model will begin its third year on Jan. Often called the MA hospice carve-in , the voluntary demonstration is designed to assess payer and provider performance related to hospice within Medicare Advantage (MA).

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 1, 2023

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. About 143,284 Medicare decedents utilized hospice in Texas in 2021, according to the U.S.

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 21, 2024

The soon-to-be-implemented hospice Special Focus Program (SFP) from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) could produce misinformation that could interfere with access to care. It might make them even fearful about hospice care, which is the last thing we want to see happen.

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Hospice News

JUNE 14, 2023

Meanwhile, Medicare hospice spending is expected to more than double by 2032. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Office of the Actuary also project that health care expenditures will represent 19.6% of the nation’s gross domestic product by the end of that time frame, up from slightly more than 18% in 2021.

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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.

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