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OIG Estimates $42 Million in Improper Medicare Payments for Advance Care Planning

Hospice News

million in improper payments in 2019. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently reported the results of its audit of advance care planning (ACP) billing practices among Medicare-certified physicians and other health care providers. OIG has already recommended that the U.S.

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Death Doulas, Community Health Workers Collaborations Can Aid Hospices, But Resources Are Scarce

Hospice News

EOLDs have had a growing presence in the serious illness and end-of-life care space, but their services are not reimbursed by Medicare or other insurance, according to Jane Euler, co-founder and chief doula of Present for You LLC. However, building these collaborations has come with financial barriers.

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Congressional Briefing Demonstrates the Value of the Medicare Hospice Benefit

NHPCO

For Immediate Release July 28, 2023 New Research Shows Hospice Produces Better Outcomes, Lower Medicare Costs (Washington, D.C. billion in Medicare savings in 2019, while also providing multiple benefits to patients, families, and caregivers. In other words, earlier enrollment in hospice reduces Medicare spending even further.

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How Palliative Care Could Help Break the SNF-to-Hospital Cycle

Hospice News

These results appeared in a 2019 New England Journal of Medicine study titled “Rehabbed to Death.” Even more so, specific Medicare and Medicaid policies perpetuate this cycle. In the study, researchers present the case of an independent 87-year-old woman with moderate dementia admitted to the hospital with pneumonia.

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Hospices Stepping Up Performance on Visits-in-Last-Days-of-Life Measure

Hospice News

In 2019, for example, the percentage was 66%. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has developed a financial incentive to foster better performance on the measure, the service-intensity add-on. Social worker visits in the last days of life also rose to 9% in 2021, up from 7% in 2020. CMS introduced SIA in 2016.

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Palliative Care Yield Cost Savings Lymphoma Patients, But Racial Disparities Exist

Hospice News

Patients who underwent palliative care and were hospitalized did not see significant differences in lengths of stay than others, but did see substantial cost savings, according to research presented at the American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition. “We Of those 5,464 had received palliative care.

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U.S. Patients Have Unequal Access to Palliative Care

Hospice News

The findings were presented at the annual American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Quality Care Symposium in Boston. They determined accessibility by comparing these records with data on the locations of Medicare-certified physicians who specialize in hospice and palliative care.