Hospice News

OCTOBER 27, 2023

Hospice patients are often concerned about the future wellness of their pets as they near the end of life, and some providers are working with organizations that help address those needs as an ancillary service. Programs that go beyond the traditional realm of hospice care can help providers distinguish themselves in the marketplace.

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Hospice News

MARCH 22, 2024

Hospice providers need to evolve with their changing patient populations and the larger health care system, according to Greg Hagfors, CEO of Partners In Care. A group of volunteers had brought the hospice concept from the United Kingdom to Oregon, according to Hagfors. Partners In Care has done that well with home health care.

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HopeHealth

NOVEMBER 10, 2023

At age 92, his community and hospice team honored him with a veteran pinning ceremony. The post Hospice program honors 92-year-old veteran for military service appeared first on HopeHealth. Over his military career, “Buzz” Tilton flew everything from fighter jets to transport planes.

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Hospice News

JULY 31, 2023

Virginia-based Blue Ridge Hospice is building a foundation for a larger future with geographic expansion, a growing range of services and a rebrand in the works. We want to be in front of that not left behind,” Hamilton Fried told Hospice News. “So We’re very open to providing acute-care palliative services.”

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 16, 2022

population, and hospices are developing more programs and resources to address their unique needs. These patients have unique mental, physical and socioeconomic needs when they come to hospice, according to Dr. Faith Protsman, VITAS regional medical director in California. “So So often veterans and their special needs are overlooked.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 23, 2023

Hospices are seeking greater clarity on updated Medicare rules that allow hospices to document a broader range of chaplain services on claims. While the revisions do not impact reimbursement, they allow hospice providers to track and report the duration, frequency and extent of the spiritual care patients receive.

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Hospice News

AUGUST 4, 2023

Alaska-based Bartlett Regional Hospital recently received approval from legislators to relaunch hospice and home health services nearly a year after a local provider shut down. Bartlett Regional Hospital in January began the process of taking over HHCJ’s hospice and home health patients to fill care delivery gaps in southeast Alaska.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 3, 2023

Mansfield, Texas-based Angels Care Hospice has set the ball rolling on expanding to two additional counties, reaching areas that have lacked a provider for more than a decade. By extending its footprint, the company is helping to fill a gap left when Big Bend Regional Medical Center in Alpine, Texas, shuttered its hospice program in 2010.

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 2, 2023

The company’s mobile health care clinicians integrate virtual visits with primary, hospice and palliative care services to assess patients’ needs in the home to reduce emergency and urgent care utilization and associated costs. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Seniors 65 and older represent 13.4%

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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

JUNE 16, 2023

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) is seeking answers about hospice patients’ access to certain high-cost services. CMS included a series of requests for information (RFIs) in its proposed 2024 hospice payment rule. CMS is getting on board with thinking through this problem,” Hoover told Hospice News. “We

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 29, 2022

Hospices stand to benefit from bridging divides in the care continuum, including filling gaps between home health and end-of-life providers, according to Eddie Norris, managing partner at Canyon Home Care & Hospice. Hospice News recently connected with Norris to discuss how Canyon has been stretching its geographic footprint.

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Hospice News

APRIL 2, 2024

More palliative care and hospice companies are developing programs to meet the specific concerns of these patients to improve access to care. The post Dana-Farber’s New Push to Integrate Palliative, Behavioral Services in Cancer Care appeared first on Hospice News.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 15, 2022

In this Voices interview, Hospice News sits down with Deanna Heath, VP of Hospice, KanTime, to talk about the potential impact of the Value-based Insurance Design (VBID) model on today’s hospice landscape. Hospice News: What career experiences do you most draw from, in your role today?

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Hospice News

APRIL 17, 2024

Legacy Hospice has acquired Mississippi-based HomeCare Hospice for an undisclosed sum. HomeCare Hospice operates four locations that cover most of its home state. About 19,000 Medicare beneficiaries elected hospice in the state last year, according to the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 28, 2022

Ethical business practices and strong leadership are keys to employee retention and satisfaction, according to hospice organizations on Fortune Magazine’s annual list of “ Best Workplaces in Aging Services.”. California-based Butte Home Health & Hospice ranked seventh in the “At-Home Care” workplace category.

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 15, 2023

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) also allows Medicare Advantage plans to cover palliative care as a supplemental benefit. In addition, the agency has integrated palliative care components into the Value-Based Insurance Design Model (VBID), often called the Medicare Advantage hospice carve-in.

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Hospice News

JULY 15, 2022

Adventist Health has expanded its hospice services in Mendocino Country, California, both in terms of geography and its scope of services. Adventist Health Hospice of Mendocino County (AHHMC) has been expanding its footprint in communities adjacent to its initial service region near the towns of Willits and Ukiah.

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Hospice News

MARCH 4, 2024

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will end the hospice component of the value-based insurance design model (VBID) as of Dec. Often called the “hospice carve-in,” the program was designed to test coverage of hospice care through Medicare Advantage, in addition to some coverage of palliative care and transitional 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

MARCH 20, 2024

In this Voices interview, Hospice News sits down with Patrick Leary, VP, Client Services, Enclara Pharmacia, to learn about the top factors that impact the nurse experience in hospice care. Hospice News: Since our last conversation in mid-2021, what challenges have you encountered amidst the changes that have taken place?

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Hospice News

APRIL 10, 2024

The Medicare Hospice Benefit could use an “upgrade” to ensure greater flexibility that may be necessary to fully support patients’ needs. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) should consider is retiring the six-month terminal prognosis requirement and allowing for some concurrent care, Wallace and Wladkowski indicated.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 20, 2023

Puerto Rico-based Brisas Health has launched a new supportive care service in conjunction with the 20th anniversary of the organization’s founding. In addition to the new supportive care service, Brisas Health has established the Dr. Héctor Acosta-Hernández Fund to fund care for patients who cannot afford to pay for it.

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Hospice News

APRIL 8, 2024

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) 2025 proposed hospice rule contained requests for information (RFIs) that could signal changes in the agency’s thinking on key issues. Through RFIs, CMS tries to take the pulse of providers’ positions on certain questions that could impact the Medicare Hospice Benefit.

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Hospice News

APRIL 26, 2024

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has delayed the implementation of hospice certifying physician Medicare enrollment requirements. CMS delayed the date to enroll in or opt out of Medicare until June 3 for physicians who certify hospice services.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 27, 2023

Medicare Advantage (MA) beneficiaries are more likely to enroll in hospice from a community setting than patients in traditional fee-for-service programs. million patients who elected hospice in the last 90 days of life during the years 2011, 2013, 2016 and 2018. Medicare Advantage currently does not cover hospice care.

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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. For some rural areas, they’re not seen as financially feasible or sustainable to larger programs,” Kuhlman told Hospice News. “So,

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Hospice News

APRIL 10, 2024

A lack of trained staff and evolving health laws are among the leading barriers to expanding perinatal palliative and hospice care among underserved populations. With regards to racial disparity, we know it’s out there,” Fisher told Hospice News. That drives who goes to perinatal hospice and who receives a certain type of care.

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Hospice News

APRIL 19, 2024

Lawmakers in Connecticut and Vermont have recently introduced legislation aimed at protecting hospice and home health workers. Legislators in Vermont recently passed an act related to mental health response service guidelines and social service provider safety, which include community-based hospice providers and home health workers.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 20, 2024

A federal jury has convicted Dr. John Thropay, a hospice medical director, on charges of health care fraud in a $2.8 Thropay was the medical director of several hospice companies, including Blue Sky Hospice, based in Van Nuys, California. The post Blue Sky Hospice Medical Director Convicted of $2.8M million scheme.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 23, 2024

Rising wages, reimbursement pressures and immigration policies are fueling high turnover rates for hospice and personal care aides. Similar trends are proliferating among hospitals and health systems that provide these services. The company has seen reduced turnover among aides in its New York service region, Klein said.

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Hospice News

JULY 27, 2023

This is compared to a 4% increase in home health same-store admissions and a 6% decline for its hospice segment. While these services still represent less than 1% of Amedisys’ total revenue, that segment is its fastest growing. “We Amedisys saw its net service revenue drop to $553 million in Q2, compared to $557.9

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 11, 2023

The American Board of Medical Specialties and American Osteopathic Association Board of Specialties didn’t recognize hospice and palliative care as a subspecialty until 2006. Daly said she wasn’t aware of other neuropalliative care practices structured this way, though there are neurologists who work within hospice organizations.

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Hospice News

APRIL 15, 2024

Though the Medicare Advantage hospice carve-in is going away at the end of this year, those operators still have a role to play in value-based care. The carve-in, formally known as the hospice component of the value-based insurance design model (VBID), will expire on Dec. Hospice care saves Medicare roughly $3.5

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 7, 2024

The Hospice of North Central Ohio (HNCO) will affiliate with Hospice of Western Reserve, also located in the Buckeye state. The HNCO board of directors signed a letter of intent to enter into a Management Services Agreement with Western Reserve for 90 days. In 2022, Western Reserve acquired Stein Hospice in Sandusky, Ohio.

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Hospice News

APRIL 5, 2024

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) proposed 2025 hospice rule is finalized as written, hospices may encounter some hurdles implementing some of the new requirements. CMS late last month issued its proposed hospice rule for 2025. If the U.S. The proposal called for a 2.6% The proposal called for a 2.6%

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Hospice News

APRIL 23, 2024

A group of Wisconsin-based organizations, including hospices, are working to improve end-of-life care among homeless populations. Individuals who elect to receive hospice at the facility will receive care from local providers. We offer an alternative to dying alone on the street,” Deja said in a statement shared with Hospice News.

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