This site uses cookies to improve your experience. To help us insure we adhere to various privacy regulations, please select your country/region of residence. If you do not select a country, we will assume you are from the United States. Select your Cookie Settings or view our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Cookie Settings
Cookies and similar technologies are used on this website for proper function of the website, for tracking performance analytics and for marketing purposes. We and some of our third-party providers may use cookie data for various purposes. Please review the cookie settings below and choose your preference.
Used for the proper function of the website
Used for monitoring website traffic and interactions
Cookie Settings
Cookies and similar technologies are used on this website for proper function of the website, for tracking performance analytics and for marketing purposes. We and some of our third-party providers may use cookie data for various purposes. Please review the cookie settings below and choose your preference.
Strictly Necessary: Used for the proper function of the website
Performance/Analytics: Used for monitoring website traffic and interactions
Hospice utilization has tripled among patients diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) during the past two decades. The trend has ignited concerns about these patients’ lengths of stay, as well as praise for hospices’ cost-savings potential. Roughly 14.7%
The program is designed to recognize up-and-coming industry members who are shaping the next decade of home health, hospicecare, senior housing, skilled nursing, and behavioral health. What drew you to the hospice space? He had a very personal connection to hospice. To see this year’s Future Leaders, visit [link].
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 hospicecare, which is the last thing we want to see happen.
Hospices have grown increasingly frustrated by fraudulent operators in the space and how their activities affect legitimate operators’ financial health. This is the second of a two-part Hospice News series that explores how fraud, waste and abuse in the hospice space could create headwinds for the industry at large.
The past year has seen a slew of regulatory developments aimed at improving quality and combatting fraud in the hospice industry. The first was two July 2019 reports on hospice quality from the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) in the U.S. Some individuals also hold management positions at several of these hospices simultaneously.
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.
Six nonprofit hospice providers recently joined forces to form the Hawaii Palliative and HospiceCare Collaborative. The initiative is an effort to ensure sustainable access amid rising demand for end-of-life and serious illness care. Francis Healthcare System of Hawaiis hospice program. Ho told local news.
Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon) has introduced the HospiceCare Accountability, Reform, and Enforcement (HospiceCARE) Act in the U.S. House of Representatives, which, if enacted, could revolutionize the MedicareHospice Benefit. Hospice News / Merz Photography Hospice News / Merz Photography Rep.
Stakeholders and policymakers who shape the hospice industry are making connections between a provider’s tax status and quality indicators. Their perceptions could have significant repercussions on the outlook of hospice investments. More private equity (PE) investors have stepped into the hospice and home health space in recent years.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has made public its first cohort for the hospice Special Focus Program (SFP). Finalized in the 2024 home health payment rule, the program is designed to identify poor performing hospices, mandate quality improvement and in some cases impose additional penalties.
Economic and financial headwinds have increasingly posed significant challenges for rural-based hospice providers, with some shuttering their programs in recent years. Ensuring access to high-quality hospice and homecare in rural communities is critical, Landers said in a statement.
Hospices’ public outreach efforts have evolved in recent years, with providers finding new strategies to dispel myths that have long impeded access to care. Nearly half, or 49.1%, of all Medicare decedents utilized hospice services in 2022, reported the National Alliance for Care at Home.
A veteran of the senior services sector, Health has spent his 30-year career as a leader of hospice, senior housing, long term care, and PACE programs, in addition to a stint as a health care lobbyist. As a hospice leader, what are some of the things that have been keeping you up at night? And we see that in the hospice.
A coalition of hospice, home health and palliative care organizations has called on Congress to extend temporary telehealth flexibilities implemented during the pandemic. Doing so would help ensure continued access to quality care among vulnerable patient populations, according to the organizations.
These evolving regulations have hospices concerned that a lack of virtual access to their services could have significant impacts on quality and health disparities. Weve inherited a kind of accelerated movement toward a new normal during the pandemic, Fratkin told Hospice News.
While they may have the clinical insight to deliver these services, they may have limited experience negotiating contracts specifically for palliative care, which can be particularly challenging in the absence of a standardized care model and payment structure, he said. “At NASDAQ: AMED) subsidiary Contessa.
Texas-based Choice Health at Home LLC has inked a deal to acquire Lumicare Hospice, growing its presence in two current markets while establishing services in a new state. Lumicare Hospice has locations in Texas and Arizona, two states in Choice’s existing service region. Hospice utilization in the state reached 50.4%
Errors or other inconsistencies with the payment cap can have significant consequences for providers, and sales and marketing staff can help hospices achieve a healthy balance. The cap is designed to prevent overuse of hospice, put controls on Medicare spending and foster greater access to care among patients.
Arizona-based MD Home Health has expanded its business lines to include in-clinic care, virtual care and a hospice program. Founded in 1985, the home health company will soon also offer a physician and nurse practitioner house call service and a new remote patient monitoring program.
Hospice providers and stakeholders are carefully examining the proposed changes included in the recently introduced HospiceCare Accountability, Reform, and Enforcement (HospiceCARE) Act as the bill begins its journey through the legislative process. this summer. “It
Eden Health of Northern Nevada, dba Eden Hospice, has acquired A Plus HospiceCare in its home state. Through the transaction, A Plus HospiceCare patients will have access to Eden Health’s additional services, including home health, homecare and palliative care. About 17.4%
Texas-based New Day Healthcare LLC on Monday announced its acquisition of Intrepid USA’s hospice operations in Missouri and in its home state. The transaction expands the home-based service provider’s existing presence in those markets. The company provides hospicecare at home through its location in Joplin, Missouri.
Texas-based New Day Healthcare LLC has announced its acquisition of Good Samaritan Society’s hospice operations in its home state. The transaction includes Good Samaritans hospice assets in El Paso, Texas, expanding New Days existing presence in that market. Hospice utilization rates hovered at 49.1% Scott Herman.
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.
Given the critical role of family caregivers in home-based care, hospices have a vested interest in expanding their access to support. Families caring for seriously ill loved ones face systemic barriers that could threaten patients’ ability to receive care at home, including at the end of life.
Kansas-based Faith Home Health and Hospice will acquire the home-based care operations of Holton Community Hospital. The hospital in September announced that it would be closing its home health and hospice services as of Dec. Kansas is home to about 2.9 million people.
The Alliance hinted that it was inching closer to a leadership decision earlier this month after completing an affiliation in June between the National Association for HomeCare & Hospice (NAHC) and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO).
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ramped up auditing activity in the space while also sunsetting the hospice component of its value-based insurance design (VBID) model demonstration ahead of its initial expiration. There were just some of the themes percolating among the most-read Hospice News coverage of 2024.
As Contessa Health pioneers a growing value-based palliative care-at-home program, they’ve encountered some learning curves when it comes to operating within a new payment system. Contessa is a subsidiary of Amedisys (NASDAQ: AMED), which the home health and hospice provider acquired in 2021 for $250 million.
The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) and the National Association for HomeCare & Hospice (NAHC) have announced the completion of their affiliation agreement. Photo courtesy of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO).
Home-based care, including hospice, is an increasingly attractive space for health systems and hospitals — a trend that accelerated during the pandemic. Health systems are bringing care to the home by a number of routes. Vargas oversees the organization’s Southern California and Hawaii markets.
The National Association for HomeCare & Hospice (NAHC) and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) are moving forward on the integration of their combined new organization. Announced in June at the Hospice News Elevate conference in Washington D.C. Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon).
Obstacles in palliative care’s path More physicians offices, primary care providers, hospitals, oncology centers and other facility-based health care providers are stepping into the community-based palliative care space. The diversity and wide breadth of services can be beneficial to patient-centered care, she said.
While hospice and home health M&A continue to burgeon, non-medical homecare is starting to slip out from under their shadows. Deal volume for non-medical homecare companies outstripped that for hospice or home health during the first half of the year. Hospice market to stay mighty.
Home-based care provider Compassus has been on a growth trajectory for several years running – placing hospice and home health at the center of its strategic vision. Compassus provides home health, home infusion, palliative and hospicecare across 30 states.
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 hospicecare delivery. It risks limiting people’s access to the health care and support they need at the end of their lives.
For now, Amedisys shows no signs of slowing down on palliative care. Expanding palliative care relationships and joint venture partnerships is a priority for 2024, the Louisiana-based home health and hospice provider indicated in a filing with the U.S. The key with palliative care is the managed care plans.
Prolific health disparities have driven hospices to implement various strategies to improve diversity, equity and inclusion among underserved patient populations. Garrett is also executive director of the Virginia-based hospice’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Committee. Hospice utilization rates rose by 4.1%
Featuring these three service areas was key in designing a care model aimed at meeting patients’ individualized needs, according to Susan Ponder-Stansel, Alivia Care’s president and CEO. Alivia Care emerged in 2020 when Community Hospice & Palliative Care, now an affiliate, formed a larger company with a broader range of services.
Calls are growing louder for Congress to build stronger reimbursement and workforce incentives aimed at improving the availability and sustainability of rural-based end-of-life care. Rural-based hospice providers face a range of challenges to improve access among their underserved patient populations. said during the hearing.
The crux of a lawsuit filed by hospice organizations against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Thursday is the criteria that the agency uses to select hospices for the new Special Focus Program (SFP). They have asked the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Texas-Houston Division.
Two of the nation’s largest hospice and home-based care industry organizations are merging and have announced a combined board that will guide the transition. Recently, many of those efforts have included advocacy around program integrity within the MedicareHospice Benefit.
A group of hospice providers and state associations have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. The plaintiffs include: Texas Association for HomeCare & Hospice, Indiana Association for Home & HospiceCare, Association for Home & HospiceCare of North Carolina, South Carolina HomeCare & Hospice Association and Houston Hospice.
Our bold strategy focuses on regions where there are significant gaps in care for underserved adults,” Williams told Hospice News. With South Carolina being part of the Stroke Belt … it has growing aging populations with limited health care options tailored to their unique needs. The PACE and hospice relationship is important.
We organize all of the trending information in your field so you don't have to. Join 5,000+ users and stay up to date on the latest articles your peers are reading.
You know about us, now we want to get to know you!
Let's personalize your content
Let's get even more personalized
We recognize your account from another site in our network, please click 'Send Email' below to continue with verifying your account and setting a password.
Let's personalize your content