Hospice News

APRIL 12, 2024

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) proposed 2025 hospice rule contains clarifications on which physicians may certify patients for hospice enrollment. The CoPs require that a hospice medical director or physician designee review patient clinical information and provide written certification of their terminal illness.

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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. She never instituted a Medicare provider number.

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 1, 2024

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has signaled its intention to align every Medicare beneficiary with a value-based payment system by 2030. The workforce shortage and value-based care will shape the future of hospice, according to some providers.

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Hospice News

JUNE 21, 2024

Dr. David Lovell, its founder and owner, launched the for-profit hospice in 2010, and the enterprise became Medicare-certified in 2012. Tapestry Hospice allegedly paid medical directors to “induce them to refer patients” to their organization in exchange for monthly stipends and signing bonuses for medical directors.

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Hospice News

APRIL 26, 2024

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has delayed the implementation of hospice certifying physician Medicare enrollment requirements. CMS delayed the date to enroll in or opt out of Medicare until June 3 for physicians who certify hospice services.

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 11, 2024

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced that its Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) yielded more than $2.1 As of January 2024, roughly 480 ACOs are participating in MSSP, which include more than 608,000 clinicians who provide care to nearly 11 million Medicare beneficiaries.

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Hospice News

JULY 11, 2024

Efforts to establish potential payment mechanisms for high-acuity palliative services within the Medicare Hospice Benefit will require greater clarity from regulators, according to the Coalition to Transform Advanced Care (C-TAC). The use of the term ‘palliative’ for treatments in this RFI was problematic.”

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 27, 2024

In addition to these types of partnerships, Contessa also contracts directly with some payers, primarily Medicare Advantage plans. “We The joint ventures’ boards have a 50/50 split among members from each partner with oversight by a dedicated medical director. Contessa’s JVs have a similar structure and clinical model.

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Hospice News

MAY 7, 2024

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has also taken steps to bolster program integrity. In Clark County, they have added 70 Medicare-certified agencies in the past two years, and the market is collapsing,” a hospice executive told Hospice News on condition of anonymity. “It’s But the problem is not going away.

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Hospice News

JUNE 12, 2024

Candidates for palliative care position need to have a strong understanding of what the job entails, Dr. Jennifer Blechman, palliative care medical director at the Oregon-based nonprofit Partners in Care said at the Hospice News Virtual Staffing Summit.

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Hospice News

JANUARY 17, 2024

A recent study examined results of the company’s Total Care Model for patients enrolled in Medicare Advantage or Accountable Care Organization Realizing Equity, Access and Community Health (ACO REACH). In 2022, the company serviced more than 269,500 Medicare Advantage members and 89,000 Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries.

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Hospice News

MAY 22, 2024

But moving away from fee-for-service towards value-based payment could make a difference when it comes to hiring and retention, according to Dr. Jennifer Blechman, palliative care medical director at the Oregon-based nonprofit Partners in Care. Palliative care traditionally loses money. The value in palliative care is cost savings.

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Hospice News

APRIL 24, 2024

But primarily, Medicare still reimburses for palliative care through fee-for-service payment programs that cover physician and licensed independent practitioner services. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) also allows Medicare Advantage plans to cover palliative care as a supplemental benefit.

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Hospice News

MARCH 29, 2024

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed a 2.6% billion in annual savings for Medicare, which underscores the critical importance of investing in hospice to ensure continued beneficiary access to quality end-of-life care.” Hospice care saves Medicare roughly $3.5 In a proposed rule released yesterday, the U.S.

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 10, 2024

Muir also has served as the medical director for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovations’ (CMMI) high-needs Accountable Care Organization Realizing Equity, Access, and Community Health (ACO REACH) program. 3HC Announces New CEO 3HC Home Health & Hospice Care Inc.

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Hospice News

JUNE 14, 2023

Meanwhile, Medicare hospice spending is expected to more than double by 2032. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Office of the Actuary also project that health care expenditures will represent 19.6% However, the annual Medicare Trustees Report for 2023 provides a more detailed look at hospice spending.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 13, 2023

Since at least 2022, Contessa has been pursuing palliative care reimbursement through Medicare Advantage. Earlier this year, the Amedisys subsidiary entered into its first full-risk Medicare Advantage contract to include palliative care with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee.

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Hospice News

MARCH 18, 2024

But some argue that palliative care — which focuses heavily on patients’ own wishes and goals — as a form of personalized medicine, Dr. Bill Logan, national medical director and chief medical officer for Carelon Health, a subsidiary of Elevance Health (NYSE: ELV), said at the Hospice News Palliative Care Conference in Tampa, Florida.

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Hospice News

JULY 8, 2024

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) has launched the Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience (GUIDE) payment model with close to 400 participating organizations, including many palliative care providers. The CMS Innovation Center announced the GUIDE demonstration in July 2023.

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Hospice News

AUGUST 25, 2022

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the U.S. FCA cases often hinge on whether a hospice billed Medicare for services a patient was not eligible to.i For instance, if a hospice with a $15 million annual revenue has nine medical directors on staff, this should “jump off the page” for a buyer, he said.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 23, 2024

Around this time last year, the company also began contracting directly with Medicare Advantage payers, beginning with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee. Through the agreement, Amedisys will make palliative care available to eligible members among the nonprofit health plan’s 3.3 million beneficiaries. million beneficiaries.

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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. Additional services include medical equipment assistance, a telehospice program, and music, reiki and pet therapies, among others. Carl Derrick as medical director.

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 2, 2023

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized its home health rule for 2024 containing a new policy that will require anyone who holds 5% ownership or more in a hospice to submit a criminal background check, including fingerprints. On Wednesday, the U.S. They’re also providing clarification around what a ‘managing employee’ is.

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Hospice News

MARCH 12, 2024

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). “The findings from our collaborative survey offer valuable insights into the auditing and adjudication processes of Medicare hospice benefit claims,” NPHI CEO Tom Koutsoumpas told Hospice News in an email. In addition to those my Medicare Contractors, last year the U.S.

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 12, 2024

Today’s hospice leaders need to take a wide view into the range of challenges facing their interdisciplinary care teams, according to Dr. Andrew Mayo, chief medical officer at St. Croix Hospice in 2014 as an associate medical director. Croix Hospice. Mayo joined St.

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Hospice News

MAY 31, 2024

Patients with eating disorders can face an array of challenges that impede access to health care and pose risk of negative care experiences, according to Dr. Jonathan Treem, regional medical director of palliative care and hospice at Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group | Kaiser Permanente.

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Hospice News

JANUARY 30, 2024

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) gave hospices a 3.1% Due to polypharmacy, hospice patients are often at great risk for adverse side effects, such as falls, confusion and medication interactions, among others, according to a 2022 dissertation by Shannon Dickson at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

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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

OCTOBER 25, 2023

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) allowed palliative care providers to perform patient care visits virtually. Medicare claims can also be one way regulators gain insight into potential misuse of telehealth services, she said at the C-TAC-CAPC Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C. During the pandemic, the U.S.

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Hospice News

JUNE 4, 2024

The bill’s introduction follows legislation floated last year that proposed to expand Medicare coverage of telehealth and make permanent some of the flexibilities implemented during the COVID-19 public health emergency. Currently set to sunset Dec.

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Hospice News

JULY 20, 2022

Payers, including Medicare, like to see providers reduce the costs of care. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has reimbursed palliative care through a fee-for-service model that only covers physician and licensed independent practitioner services, rather than the full range of interdisciplinary care.

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 9, 2024

Becoming Medicare-certified in April 2023, the hospice served its first patient last June. We have a social worker, medical director, chaplain services, nursing care and nursing assistants, and bereavement and volunteer coordinators. The home health organization has provided care in Denver, Colorado, since 1923.

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Hospice News

JUNE 29, 2023

Gross is also a medical director at ANX Hospice Care. There isn’t a guideline as to what would be considered best practice or appropriately fulfilling the Medicare requirements for bereavement,” Gross said. There’s no guideline in place for fulfilling this Medicare requirement in an economically feasible way.”

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 15, 2022

Commonly known as the Medicare Advantage hospice carve-in, the Value-Based Insurance Design (VBID) model officially launched on January 1, 2021, with 53 Medicare Advantage Plans offering the benefit in 206 counties within 13 states and Puerto Rico for 4 years ending in 2025. The difference is Medicare Advantage vs Humana VBID.

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Hospice News

MAY 1, 2023

Traditional Medicare only covers physician consults and doesn’t support the full range of interdisciplinary care. Two emerging pathways to payment include supplemental benefits within Medicare Advantage and relationships with Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 10, 2023

District Judge Debra Brown has sentenced a Mississippi hospice physician to five years in prison for taking $16 million in fraudulent Medicare claims. He had served as medical director for several hospice organizations. attorney for northern Mississippi, said in a statement.

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Hospice News

JULY 23, 2024

That group has helped us in interviewing new potential hospice physicians and medical directors as well as helping onboard and create connections. Being a hospice physician or hospice medical director for local agencies can at times be a little isolating. We become the provider of choice in the community.

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