Hospice News

JANUARY 10, 2025

Cheryl Hamilton Fried, CEO, Kirva Hospice Demand grows despite blustery staffing headwinds We will begin to see a more significant increase in utilization in 2025 (vs 2024) as education regarding the benefit, increased [long term care] occupancy versus the pandemic era, and a growing senior demographic all converge on the sector.

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 14, 2023

A pilot program by an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) reduced per capita health care expenditures at a rural hospital by 70% and admissions by 98%. A key component of the initiative was a “Four Questions” framework for goals-of-care conversations. Clinicians also did home visits with nurses on call 24/7.

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Hospice News

AUGUST 20, 2024

New York state’s new Center for Hospice and Palliative Care recently launched with an aim to increase utilization and goal-concordant outcomes among swelling aging populations in the Empire State. About 48,644 Medicare decedents utilized hospice services that year, a lower number compared to other states, according to the U.S.

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 12, 2022

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in 2023 will phase out dual-eligibility special needs look-alike plans within Medicare Advantage. Close to 12 million people in the United States qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid. Some hospice patients rely on these plans for other health needs, such as nursing home costs.

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Hospice News

AUGUST 6, 2024

The nonprofit senior care provider Empath Health is partnering with the Medicare Advantage organization American Health Plans (AHP), a division of American Health Partners to serve patients who are enrolled in Institutional Special Needs Plans (ISNP).

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 29, 2022

Many people will never be able to really afford long-term care, and I think there’s a big equity issue here. Among the company’s goals is to reduce both the burden on patients and caregivers as well as the financial strain on the health care system. . So how do we provide that infrastructure to keep them at home?”.

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Hospice News

AUGUST 17, 2022

Among the applicants to join the council was Barbara Hansen, CEO of the Oregon Hospice & Palliative Care Association, who became a member in 2018. The Oregon advisory group began producing a website to inform health care providers about palliative care, with a particular focus on long term care organizations.

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 8, 2024

Hospice utilization rates among Medicare descendents in Florida reached 55.97% in 2022, according to the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization’s Facts and Figures report. Francis Reflections is currently developing a new Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) program in Brevard County, Florida.

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 4, 2024

Hospice utilization rates reached 51.81% among Medicare decedents during 2022, which was above the national average of 49.1% that year, according to National Alliance for Care at Home. Seniors 60 and older are projected to represent nearly a third (27%) of South Carolina’s overall population by 2030, a 5% rise from 2020, the U.S.

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Rehab Realities by Renee Kinder

APRIL 24, 2025

In the FY 2026 Skilled Nursing Facility Proposed Rule, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is requesting feedback on a potential quality measure focused on nutrition. This simple act, planting a garden, has become a symbol of more than fresh produce for many skilled nursing communities. And this spring, its also timely.

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Hospice News

JULY 6, 2022

Founded in 1984, CommuniCare Health Services is a family-owned company that provides post-acute services including skilled nursing, assisted living, independent living, behavioral health and long-term care. Hospice utilization among Medicare decedents in West Virginia reached 43.6% that year.

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Hospice News

AUGUST 5, 2022

We contract with [the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI)] as a direct contracting entity, and our job is to coordinate a network of providers, called DCE participants, and then also preferred providers, which would be hospices, home health agencies that can help coordinate the care as the patients move into the home setting.”.

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Hospice News

JUNE 6, 2023

Most of the hospital’s revenue shortfall comes from its long-term care facility — a 20-bed outfit. Another caregiving agency in the area serves patients on Medicaid or Medicare, but their availability is limited. Patients in the program will be served by their primary care physician, a nurse case manager, and EMTs.

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Hospice News

JULY 18, 2023

Hospice & Community Care also has two office locations in the state, along with a 24-bed inpatient center, a residential center and a bereavement facility, the Pathways Center for Grief & Loss. It will also allow both hospices to continue offering care to patients, regardless of their ability to pay, according to Knaub.

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Hospice News

JANUARY 11, 2023

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) requires operators to report incidents of patient abuse and neglect that involve their staff. This would bring the hospice rules in line with those used in long term care. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has recommended.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 11, 2023

She was most recently its corporate compliance officer, previously serving as both an admission and a triage nurse, long-term care manager, quality improvement specialist and senior director of quality, among other roles. Ervin joined Avow Hospice in 2003, working in various clinical and non-clinical roles.

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Caregiver Support Services

MARCH 7, 2024

The likelihood of needing long-term care increases as you age, and the expenses that come with long-term care also increase. These costs are normal, but the high price point can still catch many off guard, which is why it’s important to prepare for long-term care expenses sooner rather than later.

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 27, 2022

A leading cause of fraud involves hospices billing Medicare for services for which patients were not eligible, according to a 2021 report from Bass, Berry, & Sims. Some hospices have already begun seeing penalties from a rise in UPIC audit activity, including reimbursement suspensions or Medicare claim repayments.

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Traditions Health

JANUARY 5, 2025

These qualifications are required for Medicare coverage , but private health insurance plans may have different guidelines. If youre considering hospice care for yourself or a loved one, check with your insurance provider. Continuous home care provides a healthcare provider for 8-24 hours per day.

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Hospice News

AUGUST 1, 2023

Tennessee Quality Care is a portfolio company of American Health Partners, which operates companies in the home health and hospice; long term care, senior living and rehabilitation industries, as well as behavioral health care. Allison attributed the decline primarily to the return of Medicare sequestration.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 27, 2024

When you’re in any kind of value-based situation, you do need all the private duty, the Medicare certified hospice, adult daycare and PACE and primary care as well. That seems to be common among a lot of providers that do have the capabilities that we’re talking about is value-based care.

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Elder Care Matters

AUGUST 12, 2024

Discover essential tips for navigating Medicare to maximize your benefits. Learn how to integrate Medicare into your estate planning and long-term financial strategies to ensure effective elder care. Explore key insights on enrollment, plan selection, cost management, and preventive services.

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 20, 2023

Guaranteed serves Medicare and Medicaid patients across five counties in southern California, including the Los Angeles region. In that role, she oversaw financial and clinical operations and service outcomes across the health system’s network of five hospitals, nine long-term care facilities and its hospice and palliative care services.

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 16, 2024

Oftentimes, we say the hospital, but the hospital also manages the home care and the long term care. Typically, that is somebody from the health care community who’s leading the charge and is the coordinator or the team. You can bill for advanced care planning. It’s good for our community.

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Elder Care Matters

NOVEMBER 2, 2022

Medicare Part B Premiums to Decrease in 2023 For the first time in over a decade, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced that Medicare beneficiaries will enjoy a lower premium in 2023. That’s welcome news for seniors living on a fixed income and struggling with dramatic price increases on, well, everything.

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Seasons Hospice

APRIL 22, 2025

Hospice care is usually provided in the patients home, but it can also be delivered in hospice centers, hospitals, or long-term care facilities. Key Differences Between Palliative Care and Hospice Care 1. The goal is to help the patient live as fully and comfortably as possible, without curative treatment.

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 20, 2024

Unroe has worked in advance care planning and palliative care, dating back to experience at the Duke University Medical Center as a Geriatric Fellow and as a fellow for the Office of Disability, Aging, and Long Term Care Policy at the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services , approximately 1.2

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 6, 2022

“We really do see the opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives — especially as people are aging — and you think of the costs associated with leaving their homes and going into assisted living or a long-term care environment,” Tricia Ford, vice president of operations for Care Synergy, told Hospice News. “In

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Hospice News

JUNE 21, 2023

Longer general inpatient hospice stays and high-cost issues are reasons for the audit, dubbed the “Audit of Selected, High-Risk Medicare Hospice General Inpatient Services,” according to OIG. Through the audit, OIG will determine whether hospice providers that billed for general inpatient care complied with Medicare requirements.

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 20, 2023

Compassus provides a continuum of home-based services including home health, palliative care and hospice from more than 250 locations across 29 states, including a number of similar partnerships with health systems and other health care providers. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

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Rehab Realities by Renee Kinder

FEBRUARY 16, 2023

Let’s start with some definitions and guidance from Medicare Benefit Policy Manual Chapter 15 – Covered Medical and Other Health Services. We are clinicians, after all, who provide care to complex patients daily so how about we start there! How is that defined per Medicare? Now on to complexities.

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Rehab Realities by Renee Kinder

JULY 21, 2022

But onward to post-acute care and what we see coming in the future. . Last week we as an industry saw RTI International release a report titled: CMS Report to Congress: Unified Payment for Medicare-Covered Post-Acute Care Analysis and Development of the Prototype Unified PAC Prospective Payment System Called for in the IMPACT Act.

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Rehab Realities by Renee Kinder

NOVEMBER 10, 2022

Medicare has released the calendar year 2023 final rule related to Medicare Part B, which is impacted by the physician fee schedule and determines rates and coding updates for your rehab providers. Click here for a fact sheet on final changes to the Medicare Shared Savings Program. Renee Kinder. It’s that time of year again!

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Rehab Realities by Renee Kinder

SEPTEMBER 26, 2024

Every fall, healthcare professionals anxiously await the release of the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) Final Rule, which outlines policy changes for Medicare payments under the PFS and updates to other Medicare Part B payment policies. What the Final Rule doesn’t fully explain is the journey that brought us here.

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 17, 2023

.” Pallitus has also entered into some value-based arrangements with other payers and hospital systems to provide high quality palliative care more on a per-member-per-month fee schedule. Principal care management is something that [the U.S. “That’s been very, very successful,” Dillon said.

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Rehab Realities by Renee Kinder

APRIL 27, 2023

PEPPER is a report that uses National SNF claims data to identify areas within the SNF prospective payment system (PPS) that could be at risk for improper Medicare payment. First, we need to remember that PEPPER target areas were identified by CMS as being potentially at risk for improper Medicare payments.

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Rehab Realities by Renee Kinder

SEPTEMBER 1, 2022

On July 29, 2022, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued a final rule that updates Medicare payment policies and rates for skilled nursing facilities under the Skilled Nursing Facility Prospective Payment System (SNF PPS) for fiscal year (FY) 2023. . • One toileting item. • One oral hygiene item. • Two walking items.

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