Hospice News

OCTOBER 5, 2023

Hospice of Northwest Ohio is buying the operations of ProMedica Ebeid Hospice Residence. ProMedica’s Ebeid Hospice Residence is a 12-bed inpatient facility that opened in 2008, attached to ProMedica’s Flower Hospital campus. The purchase gives Hospice of Northwest Ohio an inpatient facility in Sylvania, Ohio. “We

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 7, 2024

The Hospice of North Central Ohio (HNCO) will affiliate with Hospice of Western Reserve, also located in the Buckeye state. Hospice of the Western Reserve is one of the leading nonprofit hospice agencies in the nation and shares our values for patient and family care,” Mary Knowlton, HCNO’s board president, said in a statement.

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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

MAY 19, 2022

Hospice providers and patients are having difficulty procuring medications due to nationwide drug shortages, threatening quality of care and patients’ access to hospice. Medication shortages can serve as a barrier to transitioning to hospice,” Paglino told Hospice News in an email. NYSE: CHEM).

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Hospice News

AUGUST 1, 2024

Hospice of the Western Reserve has completed its affiliation with Hospice of North Central Ohio (HNCO), expanding its geographic presence in the Buckeye state. The two hospice providers in February announced the affiliation after signing a letter of intent to enter a Management Services Agreement. Photo by Pixelate Photography.

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 13, 2024

Plano, Texas-based Heart to Heart Hospice will soon add a third location to its geographic footprint in Oklahoma. The de novo will open this fall, located in Durant, Oklahoma, and serve hospice patients and their families across 11 surrounding counties. Demographics are driving demand for hospice in Oklahoma. Census Bureau.

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 12, 2023

Medicare Advantage organization SCAN Group has invested an undisclosed dollar amount in tech-enabled hospice startup Guaranteed. The move comes nearly a year after California-based Guaranteed launched in August 2022, when founder and CEO Jessica McGlory began her own provider company two years after her father passed away.

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Hospice News

MAY 9, 2024

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on continuing evidence of hospice fraud and quality issues. We must urgently address the bad actors who are abusing the hospice benefit and harming patients and families,” the legislators wrote in the letter. “We Coupled with the fraud issue are those associated with quality of care.

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 8, 2024

Francis Reflections Lifestage Care and Treasure Coast Health on Tuesday completed their affiliation, a move nearly a year in the making after the two Florida-based nonprofits signaled they would join forces. Combined, the two organizations provide hospice and palliative care to more than 7,000 patients annually across Brevard, Martin, St.

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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

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

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

JULY 28, 2023

The Denver Hospice – an affiliate of the Care Synergy network – has named a new president. The end-of-life care provider announced the hiring of Ernesto Lopez on July 11. The hospice veteran officially takes over as The Denver Hospice’s president on Aug. 21, according to the organization. “We

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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 26, 2024

Hospices combat both operational and financial challenges as they seek to grow and evolve their veteran programs around the diverse and complex needs of patients and their families. I think that’s a challenge that a lot of hospices run into.” Graveran is also a veteran.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 9, 2023

Seeds of optimism are taking root among hospice providers that industry-wide labor pressures may improve this year. Survey respondents included nearly 330 hospice and palliative care industry professionals, including owners, executive leaders and managers, among others.

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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. GHC will not rebrand in the near term.

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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

FEBRUARY 10, 2023

District Judge Debra Brown has sentenced a Mississippi hospice physician to five years in prison for taking $16 million in fraudulent Medicare claims. Dr. Scott Nelson of Clevland, Mississippi was convicted last April of certifying patients for hospice who were not terminally ill. billion in the fiscal year ending Sept.

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 11, 2022

Staffing issues have increasingly been at the root of leading causes behind shuttered hospice programs nationwide. Demographics are pushing up demand for end-of-life care amid long-standing staffing shortages in hospice. RoboToaster, SmugMug RoboToaster, SmugMug Joel Wherley at the 2022 ELEVATE Conference.

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Hospice News

JULY 31, 2023

Virginia-based Blue Ridge Hospice is building a foundation for a larger future with geographic expansion, a growing range of services and a rebrand in the works. We want to be in front of that not left behind,” Hamilton Fried told Hospice News. “So Meanwhile, its palliative care program has thrived.

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 20, 2022

SCAN Health Plan is among the Medicare Advantage (MA) payers entering the hospice component of the value-based insurance design (VBID) payment demonstration in 2023. The four-year program — often called the Medicare Advantage hospice carve-in — launched Jan. This number grew to 115 in 2022.

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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% In Fiscal Year 2022, routine home care accounted for 98.8% As many as 72.2%

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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

JULY 25, 2023

Data are reshaping the health care space, and hospice is no exception. Data has played a large role in the ability to gauge the impact of end-of life care. Hospice providers have needed a window into access and utilization, as well as how lawmakers are shaping policies around health care.

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Hospice News

JANUARY 17, 2023

Language barriers, mistrust of the health care system and a lack of diverse staff are the most common obstacles between hospice care and underserved communities, research from the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) recently found.

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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

OCTOBER 16, 2024

Hospice and palliative care will be a “strong focus” of services provided at the new senior living facility, Heartlinks Adult Family Home, said Shelby Moore, the organization’s executive director. Heartlinks provides hospice and senior living services across two counties in southern Washington. million in 2023, a rise from $5.33

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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. Even if they have a lot in common, there’s a lot of legwork that needs to be done to really get the internal team on board with the effort,” Massey told Hospice News. “So

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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

SEPTEMBER 20, 2024

Recent research has found that receiving high-acuity services alongside supportive care can help ease pain. The findings come as regulators navigate the future outlook of these services in end-of-life care delivery. Patients’ pain levels were assessed using the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) index.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 24, 2023

OpusCare of Florida recently opened a new inpatient hospice facility near the state’s southern tip. OpusCare received a greenlight to launch the center from the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), which awarded the organization a certificate of need for Miami-Dade and Monroe counties. Census Bureau.

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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

JUNE 23, 2023

Amid persistent workforce shortages, sign-on and employee referral bonuses, as well as enhanced benefits, are bearing the most fruit for hospice providers. Filling gaps in the hospice workforce has come with hefty financial costs for some providers, but sustainable capacity is a large part of the return on investment.

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 14, 2022

Hospices are allocating more financial and operational resources on staffing initiatives than ever before to remain afloat and grow. Recruitment and retention have been top of mind for hospice providers amid ongoing workforce shortages that have only worsened with the pandemic. This is a rise from 33% the prior year.

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Hospice News

JANUARY 6, 2023

Pending regulatory approval, Alaska-based Bartlett Regional Hospital may be stepping in to fill care delivery gaps after a local hospice closed due to labor shortages. Hospice and Home Care of Juneau (HHCJ) shuttered its services last year, citing high staffing costs and lack of clinicians. Census Bureau.

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Hospice News

AUGUST 2, 2023

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) recently finalized hospice payment rule. The concern, however, is that hospices lack the financial support and incentives needed to bridge barriers, with reimbursement a main point of contention, he said.

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