Hospice News

JANUARY 31, 2024

The Texas-based home health and hospice company VitalCaring Group was built largely through acquisitions, and the company expects to step up that strategy in 2024 with an emphasis on hospice. We’re very well-poised going into 2024 to start executing on our growth strategy. How have things been progressing since then?

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 26, 2024

Hospice operators in 2024 are navigating a rapidly transforming environment. A potential M&A rebound After a 2023 slump, the hospice space may be ripe for a 2024 rebound. Transaction volume declined in the hospice and home-based care space in 2023, following the two record-breaking prior years.

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 3, 2023

Hospice News sat down with Marcantonio at NHPCO’s Annual Leadership Conference in Little Rock, Arkansas, to discuss the hospice industry’s priorities for the remainder of 2023 and into 2024. What else is top of mind for you as you’re looking ahead to 2024? But of course other priorities exist.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 8, 2023

Hospice providers will be looking to Congress in 2024 to address issues related to program integrity, quality improvement and industry-wide workforce pressures. 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.

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Hospice News

JANUARY 10, 2024

Moving into 2024, more hospices see joint ventures or similar partnerships to be a major growth engine. Nearly half of 143 respondents to Hospice News’ 2024 Outlook Survey , conducted with Homecare Homebase, said that joint ventures and partnerships were the growth tactics they planned to pursue the most this year.

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Hospice News

MARCH 31, 2023

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) late Friday released the 2024 proposed payment rule for hospice providers. The agency proposed to continue to allow hospice recertifications via telecommunication avenues for patients receiving routine home care, a waiver that would otherwise expire with the PHE’s end. “We

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 28, 2025

of Medicare hospice decedents terminal conditions in 2023, according to a recent joint report by the Alliance and the Research Institute for Home Care. The care providers provide is changing to meet patients where they’re at. But when we’re looking at length of stay by diagnosis, the hospice benefit is ever-changing.

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Hospice News

JULY 28, 2023

increase to their per diem payments for 2024, according to a final rule published Friday. payment boost the agency initially proposed for 2024 hospice payments back in March. The slightly higher payment rate came after weighing considerations around higher costs to deliver care, the agency indicated. set in 2023. set in 2023.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 2, 2024

Utilization continuous home care has dropped precipitously during the past decade, with labor pressures, regulatory scrutiny and billing challenges as contributing factors. Continuous home care (CHC) represented 0.9% and the hospice provides continuous in-home care until 4 a.m., This is down from 1.8%

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Hospice News

JANUARY 15, 2025

Though home-based care M&A showed signs of life in Q3 2024 in what has otherwise been a relatively quiet year thus far, transaction volume was still down last year, according to a report from M&A advisory firm Mertz Taggart.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 20, 2024

State of hospice workforce Though hospices are seeing an improved workforce outlook in 2024 compared to previous years, staffing pressures remain a top concern for many organizations. Staffing was identified as a main 2024 pain point by 36% of 143 respondents to the Hospice News’ 2024 Outlook Survey , conducted with Homecare Homebase.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 13, 2024

Fraud and program integrity concerns dominated the news in 2024, along with large acquisitions, payment rules and regulatory changes. There were just some of the themes percolating among the most-read Hospice News coverage of 2024. The following are the most-read Hospice News articles of 2024. #1: Justice Department.

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 17, 2023

This year has brought both tumultuous challenges and evolving opportunities for hospices that will steer hospice leadership during 2024. Hospice care reduces Medicare expenditures by about $3.5 Lynne Sexten, CEO, Agrace Hospice & Supportive Care [Three words to sum up 2024 would be]: Protect the benefit.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 20, 2025

This transaction significantly expands our personal care services footprint in the nation’s fourth largest metropolitan statistical area, G. Having expanded PCS services in Houston allows us to engage a full home care continuum, furthering our longitudinal care strategy.

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Hospice News

MARCH 25, 2025

A group of providers and state associations are plaintiffs in the suit, including Texas Association for Home Care & Hospice, Indiana Association for Home & Hospice Care, Association for Home & Hospice Care of North Carolina, South Carolina Home Care & Hospice Association and Houston Hospice.

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Hospice News

MAY 31, 2023

base rate increase for 2024. In addition to the labor costs and inflation, LeadingAge cited costs associated with the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency, according to a letter to CMS from Katy Barnett, the organization’s director for home care and hospice operations and policy.

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 14, 2023

Investment trends in the hospice industry have meandered in recent years, impacting providers’ approaches to growth in 2024. The mix of hospice buyers has become more diverse during the past five years to include more private equity investors, large health and hospital systems and home health companies, along with payers.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 10, 2024

Enhabit anticipates a nice bump in patient census across both its home health and hospice service lines in 2025, positioning the company for stronger growth than experienced in the last year, according to President and CEO Barb Jacobsmeyer.

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Hospice News

APRIL 3, 2023

The 2024 proposed hospice rule from the U.S. The post Program Integrity Takes Center Stage in CMS’ 2024 Proposed Hospice Rule appeared first on Hospice News. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) signals the agency’s earliest response to widespread calls to bolster program integrity within the benefit.

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Hospice News

AUGUST 2, 2023

pay raise won’t be enough to support care amid these financial pressures, she said. The proposed version of the 2024 rule contained several requests for information from providers, which included questions on potential health equity measures. Concerns are mounting among hospices that the 3.1% The panel released its report in May.

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Hospice News

APRIL 9, 2025

Systematic changes needed The Caregiving project also includes 18 short films, which debuted in October 2024 and are available at wellbeings.org and the Well Beings YouTube Channel. The films examine caregiving experiences, programs and perspectives at individual, family and community levels.

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Hospice News

APRIL 11, 2025

Alivia Care emerged in 2020 when Community Hospice & Palliative Care, now an affiliate, formed a larger company with a broader range of services. The nonprofit provides home care, hospice, advance care and supportive and palliative care across northern Florida and southern Georgia.

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Hospice News

JANUARY 29, 2025

Home-based care provider BrightStar Care has leveraged data at the local level to boost both quality and scale. In July 2024, BrightStar Care reported that it signed 15 new franchisees in the first half of 2024. It also signed 24 new franchise agreements and opened 16 new locations during this period.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 11, 2025

Fosina was previously the hospitals COO, serving in the role since March 2024. He oversaw its daily operations as Calvary integrated services with parent organization ArchCare, the health care ministry of the Archdiocese of New York. He has served as its interim CEO since October 2024, succeeding Alisa Bettis.

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Hospice News

JANUARY 17, 2025

A group of providers and state associations are plaintiffs in the suit, including Texas Association for Home Care & Hospice, Indiana Association for Home & Hospice Care, Association for Home & Hospice Care of North Carolina, South Carolina Home Care & Hospice Association and Houston Hospice.

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Freedom Home Care and Medical Staffing

DECEMBER 31, 2024

At Freedom Home Care , we take great pride in our commitment to the community through our active involvement in both hosting and sponsoring events. Here’s a glimpse into a few of the remarkable events that unfolded in 2024: Activities & Events A lot happened this year.

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Hospice News

JUNE 12, 2024

Inflation and rising health care utilization are driving U.S. health care spending to growth faster than the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). The nation’s health care spend is projected to reach nearly $5.1 trillion in 2024, up from $4.5 Hospice care saves Medicare roughly $3.5 of the anticipated U.S.

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Hospice News

JUNE 20, 2023

Some telehealth flexibilities temporarily instituted during the PHE will linger until the end of 2024, while others have already ended. The routine home care telehealth waiver ended with the PHE. Congress has since extended the recertification waiver through Dec.

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Hospice News

JULY 26, 2024

This includes developing an infrastructure to weed out bad actors, but this can come with challenges for quality hospice providers, Yntema said at the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) Financial Management Conference in Las Vegas. A shift in Congress could impact the legislation’s launch, according to Dombi.

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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. There is scrutiny on hospice care [that’s] setting the stage for the next phase of what hospice oversight looks like.

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Hospice News

JUNE 7, 2024

Included in the 2024 hospice payment rule and part of the Affordable Care Act, the requirement was previously slated to take effect May 1 and was delayed as providers voiced implementation challenges to regulators.

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Hospice News

MAY 9, 2023

Certain telehealth flexibilities temporarily implemented during the PHE are sticking around until the end of 2024, while others are rolling away as it expires. The telehealth-focused waivers allowed hospices to perform routine home care visits virtually, as well as conduct face-to-face recertification visits. “The

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Hospice News

MARCH 21, 2024

Between 2010 and 2024, the number of hospices in those four states has grown exponentially, according to data shared with Hospice News on background. New Hospice Growth 2010-2024 State 2010 (No. of hospices) 2024 (No. We are constantly doing program integrity work in this field as well.”

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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 requirement mirrors a regulation that has existed for several years for home health agencies.

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Hospice News

AUGUST 21, 2023

The TEP completed its work late last year, and now, per the 2024 proposed home health rule, the agency wants to move ahead with it in 2024. CMS initially pitched the idea in 2022 but instead convened a Technical Expert Panel (TEP) to further guide development.

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Hospice News

JUNE 20, 2024

This innovative collaboration with Pennant will help us create access for people who need and benefit from in-home care, improve our service offerings and programs, and allow us to provide high-quality in-home care utilizing the expertise of a national home care leader,” said Jeffrey A. million and $54.6

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Hospice News

APRIL 26, 2024

Stipulated in the 2024 hospice payment rule and part of the Affordable Care Act, the requirement was previously slated to take effect May 1. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has delayed the implementation of hospice certifying physician Medicare enrollment requirements.

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