Hospice News

FEBRUARY 12, 2024

Gentiva Health Services has committed to expanding its recently established Advanced Illness Management (AIM) palliative care model in 2024, including its unique approach to reimbursement. Once among the nation’s largest home health and hospice providers, Humana Inc. The company has its roots in the former Kindred at Home.

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Hospice News

JULY 12, 2023

The Kidney Care Choices (KCC) model is among the reimbursement streams that is widening payment for palliative care services. It could also help improve utilization of serious illness and end-of-life care. Patients with chronic kidney disease can often receive fragmented care and expensive treatments.

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Hospice News

JULY 31, 2023

Rising regulatory scrutiny around length of stay may be having adverse impacts on health care costs and quality, hospice leaders said in a recent Congressional briefing. Longer stays yield greater savings Regulators have fixed their gaze on longer hospice stays as signals of potential fraud, waste and abuse.

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 4, 2022

The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) is developing new reimbursement pathways for palliative care. As part of that process, CMMI is applying elements of its Medicare Care Choices Model (MCCM) demonstration, which ended Dec. 31, 2021, according to a new CMMI white paper. To date, the U.S.

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Hospice News

JANUARY 3, 2024

Lawmakers recently introduced the Value in Health Care Act, which, if enacted, could create inroads toward improved palliative care reimbursement. These changes are designed to increase participation in value-based payment programs designed to improve quality outcomes and lower costs of care.

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 30, 2022

Rising demand and demographic tailwinds are propelling rapid growth in both the hospice and palliative care markets. These markets are growing partly because of demographic trends and partly because of increasing acceptance of both palliative and hospice,” Tanquilut told Hospice News. “As

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Hospice News

MAY 9, 2024

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on continuing evidence of hospice fraud and quality issues. We must urgently address the bad actors who are abusing the hospice benefit and harming patients and families,” the legislators wrote in the letter. Members of Congress are demanding answers from the U.S.

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Hospice News

JANUARY 19, 2024

Unity Hospice and Palliative Care of Greater Houston has unveiled a five-year general inpatient (GIP) service agreement with the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) Health. The hospice will provide GIP care across the health system’s four hospitals. That tends to lend toward the GIP level of care.”

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Hospice News

MARCH 1, 2024

A growing body of research touts the benefits of palliative care for patients, families, and even providers. Palliative Care News spoke with experts in the field to unpack the reasons behind those results and identify the obstacles that are getting in the way of a more effective approach.

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Hospice News

JANUARY 12, 2024

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has voted to recommend a freeze on hospice payment increases starting in 2025. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). For this year, CMS increased the hospice base rate by 3.1%. set in 2023.

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Hospice News

JANUARY 17, 2024

Hospice providers, industry groups and other stakeholders recently penned a letter urging Congress to improve payment infrastructures that would increase access to end-of-life care among rural populations. So, for access to rural care, we’re going to have to depend on smaller rural programs.

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Hospice News

MARCH 27, 2024

Many hospices may be unprepared to cope with a large-scale disaster or a future pandemic. Operators need to be prepared to deliver care and support their communities’ responses to catastrophic events. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) expanded a Condition of Participation pertaining to disaster preparedness planning.

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 20, 2022

and Susan Collins (R-Maine) introduced the Improving Access to Advance Care Planning Act to the Senate designed to promote greater access to those services among Medicare beneficiaries. Yet, societal factors and poor coordination among health care providers can limit its effectiveness and utilization. “The Warner (D-Va.)

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Hospice News

AUGUST 17, 2022

Medicare claims for unrelated services creates serious financial and legal risks for hospice providers — even if they are not the ones who sent the bill. During recent years, payouts for non-hospice services provided to Medicare beneficiaries have tipped into the billions.

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Hospice News

MARCH 15, 2024

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has recommended to Congress a freeze on hospice payment increases starting in 2025. In its annual report to Congress, MedPAC urged policymakers to eliminate hospice base-rate increases for 2025. The 2021 aggregated Medicare hospice margin was 13.3%, according to MedPAC.

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Hospice News

JULY 3, 2023

and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) recently re-introduced legislation designed to expand the palliative care workforce. The two lawmakers, along with others, also brought forth a second bill designed to ensure that hospice patients who need blood transfusions can receive them. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.)

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 16, 2022

NYSE: HCA) and the University of Central Florida (UCF) recently added a new graduate fellowship in hospice and palliative care medicine to their existing repertoire of training programs. Demand for culturally diverse hospice and palliative care in Florida is growing as minority aging populations swell.

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Hospice News

MARCH 6, 2024

A new legislative package winding its way through Congress could re-allocate hospice funds to other programs. If enacted, it would make adjustments to the hospice payment cap for 2033 that would free up $927 million. The nation’s four largest hospice industry groups have voice opposition to these provisions. for next year.

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Hospice News

AUGUST 7, 2023

To meet growing demand, more outpatient palliative care clinics and programs are cropping up. Insurance companies and Medicare are also starting to recognize the cost savings and improved patient outcomes the clinics can provide. “I Sadly, sometimes that’s what we’re doing.”

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Hospice News

JULY 5, 2022

Iowa-based Hospice of Washington County is rebuilding and relocating its administrative offices, which also houses the provider’s palliative care clinic. The hospice received a $60,464 grant from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship to fund the rebuild, part of a statewide water quality improvement project.

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Hospice News

MARCH 15, 2024

Documentation errors and a fragmented health system pose the greatest risks for adverse drug events among hospices. McPherson also serves on the board of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM). They also need to know which side effects are more concerning and should prompt a call to the hospice.”

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Hospice News

APRIL 23, 2024

A huge need exists for neuropalliative care, Dr. Claire J. Creutzfeldt at the Harborview Medical Center’s Department of Neurology told Palliative Care News. Palliative care offers support for a variety of symptoms through interdisciplinary care.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 14, 2023

Research around hospice care has come a long way. But data gaps exist when it comes to expanding understanding of some aspects of end-of-life care delivery. Some of the blindspots in the current sphere of hospice research hover around staffing trends and patient needs.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 21, 2023

The hospice and senior care provider Helios Care is partnering with the integrated health system Bassett Healthcare Network to bring more extensive access to hospice and palliative care to patients in central New York. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

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Hospice News

APRIL 4, 2024

Calls are growing louder for Congress to build stronger reimbursement and workforce incentives aimed at improving the availability and sustainability of rural-based end-of-life care. Rural-based hospice providers face a range of challenges to improve access among their underserved patient populations.

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Hospice News

MAY 1, 2023

But despite the upswing in profile, insurance coverage and payment for palliative services remain difficult to come by. Traditional Medicare only covers physician consults and doesn’t support the full range of interdisciplinary care. The reimbursement through Medicare’s fee-for-service program is terrible.

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Hospice News

MARCH 12, 2024

Program integrity and an onslaught of audits are top of mind for many hospice providers in 2024. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). We look forward to continuing our work with CMS and Congress to ensure an equitable and effective enforcement system that preserves access to nonprofit, mission driven hospice care.”

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Hospice News

MARCH 25, 2024

Arizona-based Stoneridge Hospice launched services in 2020 with an aim to address a swelling aging population’s growing need for end-of-life care. Stoneridge Hospice provides home-based hospice and also contracts with other providers to offer facility-based services. Stoneridge Hospice launched in 2020.

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 20, 2023

Guaranteed’s New SVP of Growth, Strategy Tech-enabled hospice startup Guaranteed has named Ryan Malone as its new senior vice president of growth and strategy. Its technology platform connects patients and family members to palliative and hospice nurses, social workers, spiritual coordinators and other interdisciplinary staff.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 26, 2024

Recent research has uncovered ties between improved hospice utilization rates among patients receiving home health services. Researchers from New Jersey-based Rutgers University’s School of Nursing have found that patient preferences leaned toward home-based hospice services following home health experiences.

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Hospice News

MARCH 5, 2024

In case you missed it, Hospice News has launched a new specialty publication for palliative care professionals. You can subscribe to Palliative Care News here: Subscribe today! The Medicare Advantage hospice carve-in will be carved back out by the end of this year.

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Hospice News

MARCH 6, 2024

Coastal Hospice & Palliative Care recently began exploring ways to improve clinical outcomes during the last days of life, an important quality measure in end-of-life care. Established in 1980, Maryland-based Coastal Hospice serves four counties in its home state.

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Hospice News

MARCH 13, 2024

As hospice program integrity remains in the spotlight, California remains the only state to take action on curbing the problem. Beginning in 2021, numerous reports emerged of unethical or illegal practices among hundreds of newly licensed hospices, particularly among new companies popping up in California, Texas, Nevada and Arizona.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 6, 2023

A look back at Palliative Care News’ five most-read stories this year paints a picture of trends shaping the serious illness care space. Securing reimbursement — and the promise of value-based contracts — continues to be top of mind for many palliative care providers as they look ahead to 2024.

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 26, 2023

Hospice of the Foothills of Nevada County has joined the California Hospice Network, a regional collaborative of nonprofit providers. Hospice of the Foothills launched in 1979 to serve two California counties as an all-volunteer organization and now cares for more than 500 patients and families annually.

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Hospice News

APRIL 28, 2023

Ohio-based palliative care provider Pure Healthcare is collaborating with the nonprofit managed care organization CareSource to implement a new care management model designed to support chronically ill patients. We feel the innovation is really the marriage of that enhanced care management model.

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 17, 2023

New hospice leaders have indicated that workforce development, efficient technologies and growth in home-based services represent key focus areas for providers during the next few years. Earlier in the year, Yonah Klein was appointed director of strategy at Unity Hospice and Palliative Care.

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