Gentiva has set in motion three new disease-specific hospice programs branded as Cancer Comfort Care, Dementia Comfort Care and Cardiac Comfort Care.

The three new suites of services have launched in select markets with plans for national expansion. They are designed to provide tailored services to serve the unique needs of terminally ill patients suffering from cancer, dementia or cardiac conditions, such as heart failure and other diseases. Those three types of diseases are among the most common diagnoses for hospice patients.

“When we were considering what disease states to develop comfort care programs around, prevalence was one consideration. There are several other considerations as well, such as the uniqueness of a patient suffering from end-stage cancer, for example,” Dr. Binoy Singh, chief medical officer for Gentiva, told Hospice News. “What challenges do they have? What are the unique strategies that we would be able to look at and address symptom management in a patient population that looks very different from somebody who has pulmonary disease or renal disease or cardiovascular disease or dementia?” 

For example, Singh said, patients with each of these three conditions may experience pain. However, the pain management strategy for each of them may be very different from one another based on the patient’s particular needs.

Gentiva is the nation’s largest hospice provider by Medicare claims, according to research by Hospice News and Hospice Analytics. Operating in 38 states with more than 500 locations and 12,000 employees, the company provides hospice, palliative and home health care. Gentiva is a portfolio company of the private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice.

Key features of Gentiva’s Advanced Comfort Care programs include:

• Specialized Training: Interdisciplinary hospice teams receive advanced education in managing heart failure, dementia and cancer.
• Personalized Care Plans: Customized strategies help manage symptoms effectively and reduce unexpected hospitalizations.
• Educational Resources: Tools such as the “What Matters to Me” workbook and “Self-Care Calendar” empower caregivers and patients to engage in informed, proactive care.
• Proactive Monitoring: Remote clinicians regularly assess high-risk patients to ensure timely interventions and avoid unnecessary hospital trips.

The Cardiac Comfort Care program currently is available in 14 states through 23 hospice locations. The dementia program has launched through 29 locations in 13 states, and the cancer care service will soon be available in 22 locations in 12 states, according to Singh.

“Really the differentiator here is identifying what are the more common symptoms that people who have heart failure or other forms of cardiovascular disease might experience, and managing those as best we can,” Singh said. “Given the tools that we have to be able to execute that plan of care and achieve the goals of care through that execution of the plan of care is really very different in that bucket than the cancer bucket, and the same is true in the dementia plan program.”

A growing number of operators have developed programs tailored to patients with specific diagnoses, providing specialized care tailored to their specific needs. Examples include dementia, heart failure and other cardiac conditions, as well as diseases of the lungs. These are essentially hospice programs that are adapted to these particular populations, and they can be paid for via the Medicare benefit. This has become a means for hospices to diversify their services under the auspices of the Medicare Hospice Benefit.

In the future, the company may expand its advanced comfort care programs to include other diagnoses, several of which are under consideration, Singh said.

“The programs are presented to the appropriate patient, and they get to make a decision as to whether they want to enroll or not. So the choice piece is preserved up front,” Singh said. “Then in every visit you reinforce that we’re in the comfort care program. This is the plan of care. These are the things that we’re tracking. This is why I’m here today: If it’s a routine visit, fantastic. If it’s a symptom-driven visit, we’re here to help you manage those, all within the hospice benefit.”