Hospice News

NOVEMBER 21, 2024

The soon-to-be-implemented hospice Special Focus Program (SFP) from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) could produce misinformation that could interfere with access to care. It might make them even fearful about hospice care, which is the last thing we want to see happen.

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Hospice News

JUNE 18, 2025

The proportion of hospices that do not have a star rating from the U.S. CMS introduced the hospice star rating system in 2022 to help patients make informed decisions about which provider to choose. They appear on CMS’ Care Compare website. For one, the number of hospices in the United States has been increasing.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 10, 2025

Rising competition in the hospice space has fueled pivotal changes in end-of-life care delivery both for better and for worse, according to Arizona-based Hospice of the Valley Executive Director Debbie Shumway. We began in 1977 as a nonprofit hospice, and we are still a nonprofit today.

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Hospice News

MARCH 4, 2025

Hospices coast-to-coast have undergone leadership transitions, including changes in legal executives and a slew of newly appointed CEOs, among other roles in the industry. Texas-based New Day provides home health, hospice, palliative and personal care services across 31 locations in Illinois, Kansas, Missouri and in its home state.

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Hospice News

MAY 2, 2025

But hospices need to vet and train human and animal volunteers to sustain these services. Hospices offer a variety of volunteer-based programs such as art, aroma, massage and music therapy, with some providers increasingly integrating animals into their mix of services.

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Hospice News

APRIL 22, 2025

Underserved patient populations are facing a growing deficit when it comes to accessing quality, inclusive hospice care at the end of life. When we look specifically at hospice, we still have a lot of gaps to close [and] we continue to see two significant disparities, Bloom said at the Hospice News ELEVATE conference in Florida.

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Hospice News

MARCH 7, 2025

Mahogany Home Health and Hospice recently launched services in southwestern Ohio. The new hospice startup is the first Black-owned hospice and home health organization statewide with a drive to improve utilization among underserved populations. Couzens has also held hospice chaplain roles at St.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 4, 2024

The temporary telemedicine rules allowed hospices and other health care providers to prescribe controlled substances via telemedicine such as ketamine, cannabis, MDMA and psychedelics such as LSD and psilocybin, among other drugs.

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 15, 2024

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently elaborated on its plans to expand public education campaigns designed to help protect hospice beneficiaries from fraudulent actors in the space. Program integrity concerns have heated up in the hospice industry.

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Hospice News

JUNE 4, 2025

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz has issued a public announcement warning against the most common tactics being employed by fraudulent hospice operators. People posing as salespeople are targeting older Americans to trick them to sign up for hospice without their knowledge.

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Hospice News

JANUARY 6, 2025

Economic and financial headwinds have increasingly posed significant challenges for rural-based hospice providers, with some shuttering their programs in recent years. Ensuring access to high-quality hospice and home care in rural communities is critical, Landers said in a statement.

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Hospice News

MAY 22, 2025

The proposed California budget would require prior authorizations for hospice care within the states Medicaid program. Currently, Medicaid managed care plans who provide coverage through the states Medicaid system, Medi-Cal, may not perform prior authorizations for hospice. This could cost thousands of dollars per day.

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Hospice News

JUNE 12, 2025

Creative Hospice Care Inc. Department of Justice (DOJ) on Wednesday resolved three lawsuits brought against the Georgia-based company and its affiliates, collectively dubbed the Creative Hospice entities. The relators who filed the three lawsuits against Creative Hospice entities have received more than $1.5

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Hospice News

JANUARY 10, 2025

Hospice News spoke with a group of industry leaders about the most pressing market forces and trends that will shape the space during 2025. Their comments carried some common threads, including rising demand for care in the home, continued labor pressures, industry consolidation and intensifying regulatory scrutiny.

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Hospice News

JULY 2, 2025

Three women associated with Houston-based United Hospice & Palliative Care (UPHC) have been charged with Medicaid and Medicare fraud after allegedly bilking more than $87 million in federal health care funds. In many cases, patients were enrolled in hospice without their knowledge or consent.

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 13, 2024

As a high-touch, highly human care delivery type, hospice care may seem in a sense removed from the fast-paced, high-tech world of artificial intelligence. Yet in many ways AI is giving rise to exactly what hospice professionals set out to do in the first place: provide patient care.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 18, 2025

Expanded hospice spiritual care training could lead to improved goal-concordant care delivery. Gaps in communication training exist for hospice chaplains, according to Edward Penate, palliative care chaplain-educator at Northwestern Medicine.

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 12, 2024

Today’s hospice leaders need to take a wide view into the range of challenges facing their interdisciplinary care teams, according to Dr. Andrew Mayo, chief medical officer at St. Croix Hospice. Croix Hospice in 2014 as an associate medical director. Mayo joined St. Paul, Minnesota and going on to practice in St.

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Hospice News

MARCH 18, 2025

Indiana-based Center for Hospice Care (CHC) has revamped its respiratory care program for patients with lung disease after a temporary pause during the pandemic. In the future, we hope to expand the services and resources to our home-based palliative care program, Kaleidoscope.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 28, 2025

Carol Miller (R-West Virginia) and Jared Golden (D-Maine) have reintroduced the Hospice Recertification Flexibility Act. If enacted, the bill would allow hospices to conduct face-to-face recertification visits via telehealth. Hospice care exists to provide comfort and compassion during heartbreaking times.

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Hospice News

MARCH 5, 2025

Nevada lawmakers have introduced a bill to curb hospice fraud in that state. Among the significant changes that the legislation proposed was having newly licensed hospice programs in Nevada undergo enhanced regulatory oversight for the first two years of operations.

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 6, 2024

Beth Van Duyne (R-Texas) and Jimmy Panetta (D-California) have introduced a bill that would reform aspects of the hospice Special Focus Program (SFP). If enacted, the Enhancing Hospice Oversight and Transparency Act also would increase the penalty for hospices that do not report quality measure data to 10% by 2027, up from 4% currently.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 9, 2024

Hospice News explores the issues garnering growing attention in end-of-life care delivery in seven of this years hidden gem stories. Topics span trends related to program integrity, workforce development, health equity, service diversification and the keys to hospices growth strategies. Optum completed its $5.4

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Hospice News

JANUARY 31, 2025

Hospices see improved quality and operational efficiency as their biggest return on technology investments in three key areas. Keeping pace with the evolving technology landscape can be pivotal for hospices sustainability as rising demand pressurizes workforces, Pathek indicated. AccentCare, Agape Care Group and St.

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Hospice News

MAY 2, 2025

Blue Ridge Hospice is rebranding under the name Blue Ridge Care to signify its expanded mission and scope of services. The Virginia-based hospice provider also operates eight thrift shops. At the center, Blue Ridge bereavement care staff offers specialized programs, workshops, support groups and individual counseling.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 23, 2024

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has made public its first cohort for the hospice Special Focus Program (SFP). Finalized in the 2024 home health payment rule, the program is designed to identify poor performing hospices, mandate quality improvement and in some cases impose additional penalties. million annually.

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Hospice News

APRIL 29, 2025

Hospices are taking myriad pathways toward greater service diversification. Service diversification is more than a growing trend in the hospice space, according to Kirva Hospice CEO Cheryl Hamilton Fried. Thats disjointed care, and so we need a solution that allows people to move more smoothly through that process.

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Hospice News

MAY 9, 2025

Fichidzhyan committed the fraud through sham hospice companies and a home health company that he owned, according to the U.S. The court found that he conspired with others to bill Medicare for hospice care that was not medically necessary and never provided. Department of Justice.

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Hospice News

JANUARY 31, 2025

Montana-based Headwaters Hospice and Palliative Care LLC will soon unveil a new palliative care service line, set to launch later this year. The move comes as the hospice provider expands its reach across its home state. Right now we are providing hospice, but we are actively starting a palliative program.

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Hospice News

JANUARY 17, 2025

Some hospices have delved deeper into service diversification to improve timely access and expand their patient reach, while others remain focused on end-of-life care delivery. The San Antonio, Texas-headquartered company provides hospice, home health, veterans services, assisted living and skilled nursing services.

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Hospice News

APRIL 4, 2025

Hospice providers, along with the rest of health care, are increasingly relying on technology for clinical and business operations, with artificial intelligence among the most common investments. However, careful implementation is necessary to effectively use these systems.

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Hospice News

JUNE 13, 2025

North Dakota-based Hospice of the Red River Valley has rebranded as HIA Hospice. The new name stands for “hearts in action,” a motto the nonprofit has adopted for more than 40 years, according to HIA Hospice Executive Director Tracee Capron. Our [leadership’s] dream was to provide care anywhere someone needs it.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 10, 2024

NYSE: EHAB) is projecting strong hospice growth in the next year fueled in part by investments in technology and workforce development. The home health and hospice provider is in part leveraging technology to fuel its plans, Jacobsmeyer said during the Bank of Americas Securities 2024 Home Care Conference. Enhabit Inc.

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Hospice News

JUNE 17, 2025

Hospice providers and technology vendors are not ready to transition to the Hospice Outcomes and Patient Evaluation (HOPE) tool by its Oct. 1 implementation date, according to comments on the 2026 proposed hospice payment rule by the National Alliance for Care at Home.

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Hospice News

MARCH 21, 2025

The hospice industry is undergoing a transformative period of rising demand and regulatory changes. This is according to Scott Levy, chief government affairs officer at National Alliance for Care at Home (the Alliance). working hand-in-glove on policy issues with colleagues across the home health and hospice industries.

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Hospice News

MAY 22, 2025

Hospices have sought various ways to build supportive organizational cultures that fortify their retention strongholds amid widespread staffing shortages. Its not a sprint, Feij Mattingly told Hospice News at the conference. The Illinois-based health system offers hospice, palliative, pediatric and primary care, among other services.

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Traditions Health

JANUARY 12, 2025

Hospice care is an option for someone who has been diagnosed with a terminal illness and a life expectancy of six months or less. Your family can arrange hospice care at a hospital, inpatient hospice facility, long-term care facility, or home. During these visits, you can share concerns or ask questions.

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