Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 15, 2023

For the time being, Medicare Advantage may be providers’ best bet for palliative care reimbursement. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) also allows Medicare Advantage plans to cover palliative care as a supplemental benefit. She is also co-founder of the company’s hospice and home health service segment.

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Hospice News

AUGUST 26, 2022

Medicare reimbursement is the lifeblood of hospice providers, and a clear understanding of policies like budget neutrality can help elucidate the payment systems that keep their businesses running. For example, CMS wouldn’t cut hospital payments to increase rates for hospices. These reductions occur within each service.

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Hospice News

JULY 13, 2023

The health care space — including hospice — is increasingly shaped by numbers. During the past several years hospice providers have had to become experts in data management in order to remain competitive. Hospices’ cost-savings potential A study published in March revealed that hospice saved Medicare roughly $3.5

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Hospice News

MARCH 10, 2025

Calvary Hospitals newly appointed president Michael Fosina is embarking on a deeper journey to improve quality and access to hospice care amid rising demand. New York City-based Calvary is the only hospital in the United States thats specifically dedicated to providing hospice and palliative care.

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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. The number of registered nurse and social worker visits during a patient’s final week is one of the seven quality measures that CMS uses to evaluate providers. Through the predictive analytics data, hospice patients at St.

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Hospice News

JANUARY 29, 2025

The two organizations, which have partnered on projects related to critical care hospitals and Medicare beneficiaries, will choose five rural communities in the state with the goal of increasing their capacity to provide palliative care.

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Hospice News

JANUARY 21, 2025

Illinois-based Oasis Hospice & Palliative Care Inc.s journey to open a new inpatient facility came with obstacles, but that has not slowed the hospices growth trajectory, according to CEO Hakeem Bello. The faith-based organization provides hospice, palliative care and bereavement services across three counties in Illinois.

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Hospice News

JUNE 15, 2023

After more than a decade working in hospice leadership, Alli Collins came across something she had never seen before — a financially viable, all-volunteer provider that is not Medicare-certified. I am the new executive director for Hospice and Palliative Care of the Wood River Valley. Even the nurses just volunteered their time.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 19, 2022

In 2022, the hospice community laid the groundwork for a transformational 2023. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) developed new approaches for enforcing hospice regulations that will become effective on Jan. The following are the most-read Hospice News articles of 2022. #1

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Hospice News

MARCH 22, 2024

A group of seven nonprofit hospices has launched a palliative care organization branded as Integrity Care Partners. The founding organizations are each members of the Texas Nonprofit Hospice Alliance, a regional collaborative of which Integrity Care Partners is an extension.

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 16, 2022

and Susan Collins (R-Maine) have introduced a bill designed to foster greater access to advance care planning (ACP) among Medicare beneficiaries. The new bipartisan legislation would allow clinical social workers to provide ACP services if they possess a relevant certification or are experienced in conducting care planning conversations.

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Hospice News

AUGUST 23, 2022

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.

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Hospice News

JUNE 30, 2022

Texas-based senior living provider EdenHill Communities recently expanded to offer hospice services. The continuing care retirement community (CCRC) is located on a 27-acre campus, in which eligible residents are now able to access in-house hospice services. The company previously outsourced hospice services for residents.

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Hospice News

JUNE 1, 2022

In enacted, the recently reintroduced Palliative Care and Hospice Education Training Act (PCHETA) could make a dent in the recruitment barriers that hospices keep hitting. Hospice] has to become a part of the education of medical students, nursing and social workers at large,” Lee told Hospice News.

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Hospice News

JANUARY 5, 2023

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently reported the results of its audit of advance care planning (ACP) billing practices among Medicare-certified physicians and other health care providers. Between 2016 to 2019, Medicare payouts for ACP totaled more than $340 million, OIG reported.

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Hospice News

MARCH 27, 2023

Hospice providers in facility-based settings may be underutilizing Medicare’s service intensity add-on (SIA). Researchers analyzed 2020 claims data to identify associations between SIA utilization and hospice Medicare beneficiaries’ characteristics such as site of service, level of care and length of stay, among others.

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 24, 2024

Today’s hospice executives are entering the field with change in mind for improved quality. Hospice News spoke with c-suite executives who have recently stepped into their roles to learn more about what led them to the space and their top priorities. Regulatory challenges are among hospice leaders’ most significant concerns.

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Hospice News

AUGUST 12, 2024

Blue Ridge Hospice is launching its first Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) program, which will begin accepting participants on Sept. The launch reflects a longstanding trend of hospices diversifying their services to include upstream care, an area in which PACE programs are gaining ground.

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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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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 11, 2022

The Improving Access to Advance Care Planning Act would expand utilization of these services by removing Medicare payment barriers faced by both providers and patients. The bill proposes to “wave,” or remove, Medicare beneficiary cost-sharing for advance care planning services. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Mark Warner (D-Va.)

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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. SCAN Group, parent company of SCAN Health Plan, is the latest investor in the hospice company. SCAN Group, parent company of SCAN Health Plan, is the latest investor in the hospice company.

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Traditions Health

JANUARY 5, 2025

Although you may have heard of hospice care , you may not know how its actually arranged. Because hospice is for terminally ill patients, it can be difficult to talk about for yourself or your loved one. Here is a guide to understanding the hospice admissions process. Why hospice care? Of course, every patient is unique.

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 9, 2024

Colorado-based Emmaus Catholic Hospice has seen both staffing and census volumes swell since launching nearly a year ago. The organization began as a home health agency and added a hospice segment in 2022, according to Vicki Owens, CEO of Emmaus Catholic Hospice, DBA under the nonprofit Dominican Home Health Agency.

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Hospice News

MAY 31, 2024

Hospice and behavioral health providers can better collaborate to improve outcomes among patients with severe enduring anorexia nervosa. Jonathan Treem, regional medical director of palliative care and hospice at Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group | Kaiser Permanente. Brandt is also a professor at MU’s Department of Medicine.

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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. As legislative efforts develop, hospices may want to focus their attention on a few key legislators. We don’t have confidence in the algorithm that they proposed.

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Hospice News

APRIL 11, 2024

Black Americans are frequently denied access to hospice and palliative care due to structural racism, and many of those communities lack sufficient information to make end-of-life care decisions, new research has found. Access to hospice and palliative care is perceived as lacking. I’ll say the obvious, racism. were Hispanic; 1.8%

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 1, 2023

Wages for hospice clinicians continue to go up amid widespread staff shortages, but they grew at a slower rate in 2023 compared to the prior year. Nationally, hourly wages for hospice RNs reached $38.08 Social worker wages went up 3.78%, as well as a 2.58% increase for chaplains.

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Hospice News

MARCH 23, 2023

On the patient side, Medicare beneficiaries face out-of-pocket costs when advance care planning is performed in any setting outside of an annual wellness visit. Currently, this includes only physicians, physician assistants, clinical nurse specialists and nurse practitioners, along with clinical social workers. “If

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 16, 2023

Some hospices that have layered end-of-life doulas (EOLDs) into their workforce are seeing a return on these investments in various forms – including quality outcomes, retention and care continuity. The Virginia-based hospice is part of Goodwin Living, a nonprofit senior living and health care organization.

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Hospice News

APRIL 3, 2024

The research was published in the American Journal of Hospice & Palliative Medicine. The cost of these services facilitated by a registered nurse was $395 per caregiver, compared to $337 and $585 if offered by a social worker or nurse practitioner, respectively.

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Hospice News

AUGUST 29, 2024

The Connecticut Hospice Inc. Dubbed as Magnolia Care, the decision to launch these new services was in part driven by rising demand as more seniors with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia reach life’s final stages, according to the hospice provider. Growing demand is among the factors driving hospices’ investment.

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Hospice News

JUNE 27, 2022

Social determinants are non-medical needs that can have a significant impact on the trajectory of patients’ health, such as nutrition, transportation, social or caregiver support, and housing, among others. Social and economic factors like these drive 40% of health outcomes, according to the Better Medicare Alliance.

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Hospice News

APRIL 22, 2022

Francis Reflections Lifestage Care recently opened a new inpatient hospice care center inside the Melbourne Regional Medical Center. A swelling demand for hospice in the community spurred the unit’s development. We are thankful the community will now have access to hospice care close to home to service the growing need.”.

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Hospice News

MAY 30, 2023

Los Angeles-based Hospice Home Care recently rolled out a scholarship program for hospice aides in a move towards building career pathways and improving retention. Los Angeles County needs to hear the voices of those who provide Los Angeles hospice care to the residents of this county as they near the end of life.”

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 26, 2024

Hospice operators in 2024 are navigating a rapidly transforming environment. The prior three years have laid the groundwork for change, particularly in the regulatory space as well as gradual migration towards value-based reimbursement and in tandem, the proliferation of business lines beyond hospice.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 2, 2023

Given the critical role of family caregivers in home-based care, hospices have a vested interest in expanding their access to support. And while hospices offer social workers and spiritual care, many families continue to have unmet needs that could impede some patients’ access to hospice.

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Hospice News

JUNE 7, 2024

Providing hospice and palliative care to patients in remote regions can come with significant challenges alongside innovative opportunities to improve quality, according to Cathy Stauffer Wozniak, executive director at Hospice & Palliative Care of Martha Vineyards (HPCMV). Back then it was just Hospice of Martha’s Vineyard Inc.

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