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. based research and consulting firm ATI Advisory. “I

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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

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

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

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 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. Amedisys acquired Contessa in 2021 for $250 million.

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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. People would suffer. Currently set to sunset Dec.

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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). This could result in deepening conflation of hospice and palliative care, the organization indicated. “We

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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. Want to read more palliative care-focused content like this? Subscribe to Palliative Care News today ! The company acquired Contessa in 2021 for $250 million. million beneficiaries.

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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

OCTOBER 25, 2023

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) allowed palliative care providers to perform patient care visits virtually. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) allowed palliative care providers to perform patient care visits virtually. During the pandemic, the U.S. In June U.S.

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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

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

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

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

APRIL 17, 2023

As the demand for palliative care continues to grow, so too has the way businesses have bolstered their programs to better serve patients. Providers are consistently looking for new methods to deliver responsive, value-based services that can generate savings and reduce high-acuity utilization. Enter UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH).

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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

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

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

SEPTEMBER 20, 2023

Guaranteed serves Medicare and Medicaid patients across five counties in southern California, including the Los Angeles region. Prior to that, she was chief nursing officer at the Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center, also holding leadership roles at Evercare Hospice and Palliative Care and Capital Hospice, now Capital Caring.

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 2, 2023

This article is based on a Hospice News discussion with Daniel Schwartz, Chief Strategy Officer at Elara Caring, Devin Woodley, VP of Managed Care Contracting and B2B Sales at VNS Health, Gavin Baumgardner, VP and National Medical Director for Complex and Palliative care at Amedisys, and Anthony Spano, Director of Client Development at Netsmart.

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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

JUNE 1, 2022

This can result in patients coming to hospice later in the course of their illnesses, according to Lee, who also serves on the board of directors at the Social Work Hospice & Palliative Care Network (SWHPN). But clinical education will need a much larger boost to ensure a sustainable workforce, according to many providers.

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Hospice News

JUNE 17, 2024

Joe Rotella, chief medical officer of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM), calls on hospices to maintain their core principles amid a churning sea of regulatory and economic changes. We’ve seen the development of hospice and palliative medicine as a recognized medical specialty.

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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. Additional services include palliative care, a veterans program and care coordination.

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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. Muir joined the organization in 2019 as its chief of clinical innovations.

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 4, 2023

He went on to become the organization’s medical director. “ He went on to become the organization’s medical director. “ John Mulder, chief consultant for hospice and palliative care medicine for Michigan’s Faith Hospice, was drawn to the field after witnessing his father’s difficult end-of-life experience.

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Hospice News

JUNE 8, 2022

Thus far, the initiative has yielded positive results, but the process hasn’t always been easy, according to Dr. Gregg VandeKieft, executive medical director of the institute’s Palliative Practice Group. For starters, rural regions are less likely to have a Medicare-certified hospice than urban counties. palliative?care

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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

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

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

MAY 22, 2023

Understanding these perspectives can drive conversations about management of these symptoms, according to VITAS Medical Director Robert Nguyen, who worked on the study. of Medicare decedents who used hospice in 2018, the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) reported. between 2010 and 2019.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 21, 2025

. “By offering heart disease patients the right educational resources, we empower them to take control of their health, Hospice of the Chesapeake Vice President of Medical Affairs & Hospice Medical Director Dr. Sonja Richmond said in a statement.

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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

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. billion in the fiscal year ending Sept.

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Hospice News

MARCH 6, 2023

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on reported instances of hospice fraud in several states. “I In some cases, numerous licensed hospices have been operating from the same addresses, often with the same CEOs, medical directors and staff. Beth Van Duyne (R-Texas). The congresswoman and fellow legislator Rep.

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 18, 2023

Cancer patients can benefit from the interdisciplinary support of a palliative care team, but a main barrier to access is that oncology clinicians often lack insight around these services, according to Dr. Julie Gralow, chief medical officer and executive vice president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). An estimated 1.9

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