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

SEPTEMBER 20, 2024

Unified Program Integrity Contractor (UPIC) auditors are taking a sharper look at nursing home room-and-board for hospice patients. Hospices have increasingly faced more regulatory scrutiny in recent years amid rising program integrity concerns, including ramped up UPIC audits , among various others.

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Hospice News

JUNE 13, 2024

Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon) is drafting a landmark bill that, if enacted, would represent the most significant reforms to date for hospice payment and oversight. Blumenauer announced the bill, the Hospice Care Accountability, Reform, and Enforcement (Hospice CARE) Act, on Thursday at the Hospice News Elevate conference in Washington D.C.

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 20, 2024

This is particularly true for people living in the nation’s 15,000-plus nursing homes. The grant, spread out over a five-year period, will be put toward the team’s creation of a national network structure that seeks to include more nursing home residents in clinical trials. As the U.S. Dr. Kathleen T.

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 25, 2024

Ed Martin began working in hospice in 1987 after hearing families talk about their experiences with those services. Martin recently spoke about the complicated issue of care that is deemed “unrelated” to a patient’s terminal diagnosis at the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization’s Annual Leadership Conference in Denver.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 14, 2023

Offering hospice can be a gamechanger for skilled nursing and assisted living operators looking to stand out from competitors and improve patient reach. Home-based care, including hospice, has become an increasingly attractive space for facility-based health care providers of all walks. Among the 1.6

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 25, 2024

Hospice is a unique specialty in health care, and many nurses entering the field are unsure of what to expect. However, they can rely on more experienced nurses for guidance as they begin their professional journeys. Croix Hospice. “If Hoang had a longstanding interest in hospice care.

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GeriPal

JANUARY 20, 2023

Summary Transcript Summary In April 2022, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) issued a report on how the United States delivers, regulates, finances, and measures the quality of nursing home care. We have Alice Bonner, who’s Chair of the Moving Forward Nursing Home Quality Coalition.

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 21, 2024

Audits are becoming more frequent in the hospice space, and GIP is an increasing focus, including ​for the most common types — Supplemental Medical Review Contractor (SMRC) and Targeted Probe and Educate (TPE). If GIP billing exceeds that metric, the hospice must refund those payments to Medicare.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 14, 2023

The Medicare Hospice Benefit should allow some concurrent care, and Congress should support greater access to palliative care, among other reforms, according to LeadingAge. The most common comment our hospice members hear from patients and families is “why didn’t I get your services sooner?”

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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 29, 2023

Though evidence shows that longer hospice stays reduce costs, providers are still walking a regulatory tightrope. On one hand, longer hospice stays can lead to improved patient and family satisfaction and greater cost saving opportunities. Young told Hospice News. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the U.S.

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Hospice News

MARCH 27, 2024

Many hospices may be unprepared to cope with a large-scale disaster or a future pandemic. Last year, The Joint Commission implemented similar requirements for hospices. However, the COVID-19 pandemic exposed gaps in preparedness when it comes to hospice and palliative care. Increasingly, this factors into compliance.

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Hospice News

MARCH 26, 2025

Todays hospice landscape is reaching a pivotal point of evolutionary growth that has come with increased oversight as regulators seek to curb fraudulent activity in the space, according to Bill Dombi, senior counsel for the law firm Arnall Golden Gregory (AGG). What are the leading legal concerns facing hospice providers right now?

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 3, 2023

Houston Hospice is opening up its inpatient unit for use by other providers. Other hospices will soon be able to admit patients to the company’s unit in the Texas Medical Center in Houston. They will be able to coordinate with Houston Hospice and deliver General Inpatient Care (GIP), helping to avoid hospital readmissions.

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Hospice News

JANUARY 11, 2023

Hospices should be required to report all instances of abuse and neglect, even if the perpetrator was not an employee, the U.S. This would bring the hospice rules in line with those used in long term care. The post GAO: CMS Should Update Rules for Hospices Reporting Abuse or Neglect appeared first on Hospice News.

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Hospice News

JULY 24, 2024

Palliative care is grossly underutilized in nursing home settings, but providers can develop new tools that could bring those services to more residents, a recent study has found. It’s inherent in the nature of the people we serve in the nursing home setting.

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 29, 2023

A federal judge has sentenced Jesus Virlar-Cadena, formerly a medical director for the Texas-based hospice company Merida Group, to 50 months in prison for his role in a $152 million scheme. Evidence at the trial showed that the Merida Group marketed their hospice programs through a group of companies,” the U.S.

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Hospice News

AUGUST 30, 2024

The program is designed to recognize up-and-coming industry members who are shaping the next decade of home health, hospice care, senior housing, skilled nursing, and behavioral health. Lindsay Nixon, administrator at Arbor Hospice, has been named a 2024 Future Leader by Hospice News. Time to adjust the sails!

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 5, 2022

Louisiana-based CommCare Corporation recently acquired Notre Dame Hospice and Notre Dame Home Health for an undisclosed sum. CommCare’s purchase of Notre Dame’s home health and hospice operations marks the transaction of this divestiture Its nursing home services are next in line as part of a separate deal set to close in 2023.

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Hospice News

JANUARY 31, 2023

To a certain extent, hospices will soon be operating under pre-pandemic rules in a “post-COVID” world. The flexibilities enabled hospice and palliative care providers to maintain continuity of care while reducing safety risks, according to Ben Marcantonio, COO and interim CEO of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO).

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 27, 2023

Hospices tend to see an increase in dementia patient admissions as well as home-based utilization following an acquisition by a private equity firm or a publicly traded company. After an acquisition by a public company, hospices saw a 1.4% A little more than 20% of hospice decedents in 2020 suffered from dementia, up from 18.5%

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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 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

MAY 18, 2023

These words were spoken by a fictional, terminally ill patient portrayed in the stage play “Lily,” written by Bryan Harnetiaux on commission from the Hospice Foundation of America (HFA). Hospices get in on the act Accord Hospice is among the providers that are staging Harnetiaux’s plays.

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 22, 2024

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.

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Hospice News

JUNE 1, 2023

Patient preferences are trending towards home-based hospice care, leaving some inpatient facilities between a rock and a hard place. Meanwhile, other hospices diversify and expand their inpatient service capabilities. More patients are choosing to receive in-home hospice care,” the organization told local news.

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Hospice News

AUGUST 11, 2023

Pandemic-related headwinds that strained hospice referrals may have lingering impacts on how providers are approaching their community outreach and marketing efforts. Referrals from assisted living and skilled nursing facilities represent a large portion of hospice patients, along with hospital and health system referrals.

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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

FEBRUARY 7, 2023

She became a hospice nurse for By the Bay Health in 1996, then named Hospice of Marin, taking on various roles in clinical leadership throughout her more than 27-year tenure. “It Previously known as Hospice by the Bay, the organization rebranded in 2021 to reflect a broadening scope of services.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 3, 2025

Some hospices have recently expanded the reach of their inpatient services while other providers have temporarily shuttered these programs. AMOREM Set to Launch Inpatient Facility North Carolina-based AMOREM will soon unveil a new inpatient hospice care facility to help improve access in its home state.

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GeriPal

JUNE 22, 2023

Summary Transcript Summary In the early 1990’s, California Medical Facility (CMF) created one of the nation’s first licensed hospice units inside a prison. Keith per many reports, is the heart and sole of the hospice unit and oversees the Pastoral Care Workers. Eric: Wait, so Bonnie Raitt sang a song about hospice in prison?

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Hospice News

MAY 5, 2023

Hospice News recently connected with Nashville-based Heart’n Soul Hospice leadership to break down some of the largest length of stay challenges that providers are facing today as the pandemic tapers to an end, and ways that referral and community outreach efforts are evolving.

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Hospice News

AUGUST 17, 2022

Medicare claims for unrelated services creates serious financial and legal risks for hospice providers — even if they are not the ones who sent the bill. During recent years, payouts for non-hospice services provided to Medicare beneficiaries have tipped into the billions. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

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Hospice News

JUNE 28, 2022

Certificate of need (CON) laws have a huge influence on hospices’ ability to expand, patients’ access to care, as well as the competitive landscape and quality of care in a given market. . It really depends on the current culture of the state,” Lund Person told Hospice News. Currently, 14 states have CON laws that include hospices.

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Hospice News

JUNE 14, 2023

Meanwhile, Medicare hospice spending is expected to more than double by 2032. The report, published today in Health Affairs , did not contain hospice-specific data. However, the annual Medicare Trustees Report for 2023 provides a more detailed look at hospice spending. annually between 2022 and 2031, reaching $7.1

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Hospice News

JANUARY 19, 2023

Hospice and behavioral health care could increasingly intersect in coming years as demand for specialized care grows. In some respects, the two sectors are already inextricably linked, given the holistic nature of hospice care, including attention to patients’ psychosocial and spiritual needs as well as bereavement support for families.

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