The hospice, palliative care and personal care provider Gentiva has acquired the hospice, home health and palliative assets of the nonprofit health system ProMedica. Though Gentiva did not disclose the financial terms of the transaction, Bloomberg reported that ProMedica’s Heartland Hospice is valued at $710 million. Heartland Hospice is headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, with locations […]
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has finalized its 2024 home health rule, including the implementation of a hospice Special Focus Program (SFP). The rule also finalizes the proposed “36-month”rule for hospice providers. The requirement mirrors a regulation that has existed for several years for home health agencies. The final rule forbids […]
Though the acquisition market has slowed down this year for home-based care companies, Addus HomeCare Corp. (NASDAQ: ADUS) remains on the hunt. The most prominent home-based care transactions so far this year have involved payers seeking to acquire large providers with multiple business lines. Addus has been among the few publicly traded companies that have […]
The Tennessee-based home-based care organization Compassus has appointed John Cullen as its new CFO, effective October 30. Cullen comes to Compassus from Scripps Health, where he was vice president of corporate development. There, he led a range of growth initiatives, including mergers and acquisitions and joint venture transactions, according to a press release from Compassus. […]
A rising number of hospices have undergone name changes in recent years, prompting many to consider the elements of an effective rebranding strategy. As hospices nationwide develop new services to engage patients further upstream, some are rebranding to reflect their expanded scope and to avoid the word “hospice” in their company names, hoping to ameliorate […]
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. Case in point, Oregon-based Hospice of Redmond in August began working with the organization Pet Peace of Mind to find […]
With burnout as a major cause of turnover, hospices are applying technology to take some of the pressure off of staff in hopes of boosting retention. A frequent goal is reducing the amount of time spent on documentation. Though complete and accurate documentation is essential to regulatory compliance, patient safety and securing payment, the sheer […]
Though its temporary bonus program has ended, VITAS Healthcare has built on the momentum it created with accelerated hiring and corresponding gains in capacity. VITAS is a subsidiary of Chemed Corp. (NYSE: CHE). The bonus program, which ended in July, included a one-time retention payment that ranges from $2,000 to $15,000 per employee for nurses, […]
As Amedisys Inc. (NASDAQ) awaits the outcome of its pending acquisition by Optum, the company showed only modest gains in its hospice segment. Both admissions and average daily hospice census were down in the third quarter of the year, 6% and 2%, respectively, compared to Q3 2022. Net service revenue for the segment reached slightly […]
Patients and clinicians can benefit from having palliative care consults available in hospital emergency departments, though currently few providers have done so. Populations who most need palliative care are often chronically ill seniors with complex health conditions. Between 2014 and 2017, these patients accounted for more than 20% of all emergency department (ED) visits in […]