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VA Study Finds 95% Increase in Palliative Care Utilization When Patients Have Access to Social Workers

Hospice News

Patients are more likely to receive palliative care if they can access social workers through their primary care providers, Veterans Health Administration (VA) research has found. These findings suggest that social workers may increase access to and/or use of palliative care.”.

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How an Advance Care Planning Bill Could Impact Hospice and Medicare

Hospice News

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. Social workers are probably the most positioned for these kinds of conversations. million, Grant told Hospice News. Warner (D-Va.)

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How Medicare Budget Neutrality Impacts Hospice Payment

Hospice News

Medicare reimbursement is the lifeblood of hospice providers, and a clear understanding of policies like budget neutrality can help elucidate the payment systems that keep their businesses running. The clearest example of how this works was the 2020 rebasing of payments for the four levels of hospice care.

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

Hospice News

Hospices, in aggregate, are showing improvement on the quality measure for visits in the last days of life. 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. In 2019, for example, the percentage was 66%.

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HAP Foundation, NORC: Structural Racism Impedes Access to Hospice, Palliative Care

Hospice News

.” For the study, researchers conducted interviews and focus groups with Black Americans 18 and older who suffer from a serious illness and their caregivers, producing a number of key findings: Knowledge of palliative and hospice care varied among participants. Access to hospice and palliative care is perceived as lacking.

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Hospice Care for Veterans

Traditions Health

If you are caring for a veteran who is terminally ill or nearing the end of life, hospice care can be a smart choice. Corresponding with remedial care, hospice care focuses on facilitating a patient’s quality of life rather than extending its length. rather than merely managing their physical symptoms.

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Calls Grow Louder for Greater Federal Support of Rural Hospices

Hospice News

Rural-based hospice providers face a range of challenges to improve access among their underserved patient populations. We hear from countless community providers and state association leaders that rural hospices are in financial trouble,” Hoover wrote in a recent letter to the U.S. House of Representatives’ Ways and MeansCommittee.

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