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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 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. For example, CMS wouldn’t cut hospital payments to increase rates for hospices. These reductions occur within each service.

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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. “We

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How Hospice, Behavioral Health May Cross Paths

Hospice News

Hospice and behavioral health care could increasingly intersect in coming years as demand for specialized care grows. In some respects, the two sectors are already inextricably linked, given the holistic nature of hospice care, including attention to patients’ psychosocial and spiritual needs as well as bereavement support for families.

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VITAS Expects Recruitment Gains to Spur 2023 Growth, Revenue

Hospice News

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. “We VITAS saw nursing home admissions rise 9.4%

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Providers Navigate Fragmented Payment System To Bring Palliative Care to Patients

Hospice News

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. Historically, the U.S. PalliCare has a two-fold approach within its care and business models.

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VITAS Community Access Program Spurs Upward Trend, but Staffing, COVID Headwinds Still Sting

Hospice News

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.