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

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

I think the last area that’s been important to us to recruit outside of our physicians, and our nurse practitioners have been in our palliative medicine area and our primary care practice. One of the things that we’re doing also is launch our new program on social isolation and loneliness with the frail elderly.

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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’ve spent well over a decade in the Medicare-certified side of the world. Even the nurses just volunteered their time.

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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 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

MARCH 14, 2024

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. Social worker visits in the last days of life also rose to 9% in 2021, up from 7% in 2020. In 2019, for example, the percentage was 66%.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 19, 2022

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) developed new approaches for enforcing hospice regulations that will become effective on Jan. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) developed new approaches for enforcing hospice regulations that will become effective on Jan. During late 2021 and 2022, the U.S.

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Hospice News

JUNE 30, 2022

Communication is more efficient when we’re all attending the same daily nursing meetings and discussing the same patients, rather than relaying those communications to outside hospice providers,” Clark told local news. Patients have already begun receiving care through EdenHospice, which is currently awaiting Medicare certification.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 12, 2024

However, efforts to fill that gap in care often struggle due to limited reimbursement, primarily managed through Medicare fee-for-service, Gentiva COO Nick Stengle said in a panel discussion at the Home Care 100 Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona. We’re not charging Medicare for a visit.

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Hospice News

APRIL 3, 2024

For the study, caregivers of hospitalized patients who dwell in rural areas participated in a randomized, 8-week intervention consisting of video visits conducted by a palliative care-certified registered nurse. These visits were supplemented with phone calls and texts.

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 23, 2024

Payment streams for palliative care, most palliative programs are relying on a combination of Medicare Part B and grants and fundraising,” Schramm said. The company’s care model is interdisciplinary, with nurse practitioners and registered nurses playing key roles. A key aspect of this is expanding geographic scale.

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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

DECEMBER 13, 2023

Contessa’s specialty is high-acuity care in the home, including hospital-at-home and skilled nursing facility-at-home programs. Since at least 2022, Contessa has been pursuing palliative care reimbursement through Medicare Advantage.

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Hospice News

MARCH 22, 2024

The palliative care program works on a medical model that is led by physicians and nurse practitioners who do home visits, and other services such as social workers and chaplains available as needed, based on the patient’s care plan, according to Krejs.

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Hospice News

JULY 20, 2022

Payers, including Medicare, like to see providers reduce the costs of care. If you’re able to truncate the number of nursing hours it takes to manage a complex symptom management visit, then the agency saves money; the patient is comfortable, and quality improves.”. Historically, the U.S.

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Hospice News

AUGUST 12, 2024

The Virginia-based nonprofit capitalized the program largely through philanthropic donations Participants in the program will receive preventative, primary, acute and long-term health and personal care services, including social activities. Investing in PACE programs has benefits for hospices, but also comes with risks.

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Hospice News

MAY 29, 2024

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) may not have accounted for the financial and administrative burdens associated with its implementation of the Hospice Outcomes and Patient Evaluation (HOPE) Tool.

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Hospice News

JULY 9, 2024

HarmonyCares offers palliative care, home-based primary care, home health, hospice, radiology and other services to more than 70,000 patients in 15 states through value-based partnerships with Medicare Advantage plans and Accountable Care Organizations.

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 8, 2024

The hospice component of the value-based insurance design model (VBID) will sunset at the end of this year, but opportunities for payment through Medicare Advantage and other models remain. The component was designed to test coverage of hospice through Medicare Advantage. So there are certainly mechanisms for payment and reimbursement.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 4, 2023

Centers of Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), is contributing to the company’s optimism. The program included a one-time retention payment that ranged from $2,000 to $15,000 per employee for nurses, nurse managers, home health aides and social workers who completed at least 12 months of employment.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 23, 2024

Contessa’s specialties are high-acuity care in the home, including hospital-at-home and skilled nursing facility-at-home programs. Around this time last year, the company also began contracting directly with Medicare Advantage payers, beginning with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee. million beneficiaries. million beneficiaries.

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Hospice News

MAY 4, 2022

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. They also must become adept at negotiating with payers, such as Medicare Advantage plans.

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 20, 2023

Its technology platform connects patients and family members to palliative and hospice nurses, social workers, spiritual coordinators and other interdisciplinary staff. Guaranteed serves Medicare and Medicaid patients across five counties in southern California, including the Los Angeles region. The funding follows a $6.5

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 2, 2023

William Collinge, associate director of the Integrative Palliative Care Institute in Washington, said most palliative care organizations evolved as basic, mainstream medical care provided by doctors, nurses and social workers. Collinge said there are a number of patients on Medicare, which pays for some complementary therapies.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 24, 2023

The bonus program included a one-time retention payment that ranged from $2,000 to $15,000 per employee for nurses, nurse managers, home health aides and social workers. The majority of these hires were nurses, Westfall indicated. VITAS saw nursing home admissions rise 9.4% in Q4, along with a 2.7%

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Hospice News

JULY 27, 2023

All told, VITAS Healthcare has recruited 784 workers since the bonus program’s launch a year ago, the majority of whom were nurses. In addition to nurses, the retention program also aimed to recruit admission nurses, nurse managers, home health aides and social workers.

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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. Guaranteed currently serves Medicare and Medicaid patients across five counties in southern California, including the Los Angeles region.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 1, 2023

The national average hourly rate for Hospice registered nurses rose 4.58% in 2023, down from a 5.95% increase in 2022, according to a new report by the Hospital & Healthcare Compensation Service (HCS) in cooperation with the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC). The effective date of the research is July 1, 2023.

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Hospice News

MAY 30, 2023

Participants included hospice aides, social workers, nurses, clinicians, chaplains and other staff. Aides and other hospice workers are in high demand in California, which is among the states with higher volumes of Medicare decedents who elect hospice, according to the U.S. Seniors 65 and older represent 14.6%

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Hospice News

JUNE 29, 2023

As with nursing, the industry-wide labor shortage has impacted bereavement care, which is an underfunded service, according to Dr. Dawn Gross, palliative care physician at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Health. There’s no guideline in place for fulfilling this Medicare requirement in an economically feasible way.”

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Hospice News

APRIL 13, 2023

In 2022, Hospice & Palliative Care of the Wood River Valley performed 2,622 registered nurse visits and assisted 1,638 individuals in its community, according to a recent newsletter. Wood River reportedly provides care free of charge and does not bill insurance companies or Medicare.

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Hospice News

JANUARY 29, 2024

Fee-for-service Medicare, for example, only covers physician and licensed independent practitioner services and does not cover the full range of interdisciplinary palliative care. A number of industry groups and lawmakers have pushed for the establishment of a dedicated palliative care benefit within Medicare.

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Hospice News

JUNE 18, 2024

Primarily, Medicare 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

NOVEMBER 1, 2022

Since 2020, the company has been beleaguered by the staffing shortage, reduced lengths of stay, and disruption in skilled nursing, senior housing, and to some extent acute-care referrals. These factors, along with the return of Medicare sequestration, have contributed to declining revenues. drop among those referred from hospitals.

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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. Routine home care includes intermittent care such as nursing, aide support for activities of daily living, physical therapy, and more in the place they call home.

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Hospice News

JANUARY 17, 2024

About 18% of hospices nationwide operated in rural areas in 2021, according to a report from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC). Things that are unique for rural and frontier providers are trying to find qualified staff, registered nurses, physicians, social workers or spiritual care providers,” Wood said.

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