As regulatory agencies crack down on hospice spending, providers can benefit from recognizing the links between revenue cycle management and compliance. Regulatory activity is increasing on multiple fronts. For example, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has launched a nationwide audit of general inpatient hospice services […]
The 2024 final hospice payment rule included a modest payment increase for general inpatient care (GIP) at a time when regulators are zeroing in on increased utilization and longer stays. The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) included in the rule a 1.031% increase to hospice GIP services. Daily rates for general inpatient […]
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. The news came shortly before the retirement and resignation of the hospital’s CEO and COO. The hospital sought hospice licensure in the certificate of need state after Hospice and Home […]
Communities in southern Minnesota are working to help Allina Health find a sustainable path forward following the recent closure of its inpatient hospice facility. Minneapolis-based Allina Health built the Homestead Hospice House in 2005, which served both Owatonna and Steele county communities in the state before recently shuttering. The nonprofit health system’s inpatient center provided […]
New York-based United Health Services (UHS) Binghamton General Hospital has opened a new palliative care unit. The new unit is intended to expand access among patients in need of both community- and facility-based palliative care. These individuals’ often have a host of physical, mental and psychosocial needs that palliative care services can help support – […]
Both innovative opportunities and cost challenges underly quality and health equity components of the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) recently finalized hospice payment rule. The final rule included some key updates — and raised important questions — in the agency’s planned changes to quality measures and data collection, including those related to […]
A recent study of nursing students providing palliative care in a Thailand-based intensive care unit (ICU) indicates a need to include exposure to these services in medical education and training. Researchers examined the experiences of nine Thai third-year nursing students providing palliative care to terminally ill patients in the ICU who had varying levels of […]
Rising regulatory scrutiny around length of stay may be having adverse impacts on health care costs and quality, hospice leaders said in a recent Congressional briefing. Fear of regulatory attention, audits or post-payment reviews related to longer stays could drive some hospice providers to discharge patients who can still benefit from their services, according to […]
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is giving hospices a 3.1% increase to their per diem payments for 2024, according to a final rule published Friday. That will translate to a $780 million bump to hospice payments next year compared to Fiscal Year 2023, according to CMS. The finalized rule also raises […]
Payers and private equity investors are among the new entrants stepping deeper into the hospice space. This trend has heated up competition and merger and acquisition (M&A) activity, while posing opportunities for strategic growth in an evolving value-based landscape. The hospice industry has seen a swath of new entrants amid record-level transaction volume and soaring […]