San Antonio-based Transcend Hospice has developed a hospice incubator model for hospices that is focused on developing quick and efficient ways to get new agencies up and running. Currently operating in Texas and Illinois, Transcend markets its franchising model as “hospice in a box.” The company obtains the necessary licensing, accreditation, Medicare certification and contracts […]
Hospices have grown adept at caring for the unique needs of special populations such as pediatric patients and veterans, but more and more are encountering patients whose illnesses stem from exposures to toxic substances in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon in […]
A federal court has convicted the CEO, the medical director, and the owner of San Antonio-based hospice and home health care provider Merida Health Group of fraud for filing $154 million in false hospice claims for patients who were not expected to die within six months. A jury found owner Rodney Mesquias of San Antonio, […]
U.S. Senators Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.) have introduced a new bill, the Hospice Care Improvement Act, in response to the July reports on hospice quality from the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). If enacted, the legislation would implement new rules for oversight […]
Hospice and palliative care physician Timothy Ihrig, M.D., is chief medical officer of Crossroads Hospice and has served in that role since 2018. He speaks nationally on policy, clinical and economic issues that impact hospice and palliative care providers and their patients. Crossroads provides hospice and palliative care to approximately 1 million patients annually in […]
This article is sponsored by Trella Health.In this Voices interview, Hospice News sits down with Trella Health President Jim McDevitt to get his take on the greatest challenges for hospice providers today, where they can find opportunity in light of today’s operating environment, and why he thinks data is at the core of providing care […]
Hospice business is the engine behind Brookdale Senior Living (NYSE: BKD) health care services segment revenues in the third quarter. The segment’s earnings rose 3% in Q3 despite a 1% dip in home health revenue due to high salesforce turnover and customer service issues. The company has worked to expand its hospice operations this year, […]
A major statewide initiative is underway in Tennessee to expand awareness and utilization of palliative care. The project involves state agencies, hospices and other health care providers, along with health care advocacy groups. The effort has its roots in a 2018 state law that established a Palliative Care and Quality of Life Advisory Council, designed […]
Mitchell House, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in Sioux City, Iowa, is opening the city’s first boarding house for hospice patients in fall of 2020. The house is designed for terminally ill patients whose residences are not suitable for routine or continuous home care, or those whose care needs are too complex for family caregivers to manage. […]
Stakeholders in the hospice space must work with policymakers to remove barriers that complicate patients’ access to care, according to Sen. Jackie Rosen (D-Nev.) — including the requirement for a six-month terminal prognosis. Rosen made the comments at the National Hospice & Palliative Care Organization Interdisciplinary Conference in Orlando, Fla. “I know all too well […]