Understanding Policymakers’ Frame of Reference Crucial to Hospice, Palliative Care Advocacy

Axxess founder and CEO John Olajide discovered a passion for both business and technology at an early age, and in time, saw opportunities to leverage those interests to help modernize health care. Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Olajide’s first job involved handling money for his family’s wholesale and retail distribution business. Consequently, matters of management and […]

Behavioral Health, Chronic Disease Among Top Health Care Macro-Trends Impacting Hospices

Though operators often feel siloed within the Medicare Hospice Benefit, they are not shielded from the shifting currents in the health care system at large. This is the first of a series of articles that will explore these trends, beginning with the meteoric rise of behavioral health and chronic disease management — both as essential […]

Charter Healthcare Shakes Up Executive Team with New CEO, COO

California-based post-acute care company Charter Healthcare Group has tapped Cheryl Lovell to become its new CEO and Anna-Gene O’Neal as the company’s first chief operating officer. Charter, a portfolio company of Pharos Capital Group, provides hospice, home health, complex care management and palliative care services to nearly 13,000 patients in eight states. “We are excited […]

Kusserow: As Health Care Environment Changes, Amedisys Evolves

Wheels of change are in motion at Amedisys (NASDAQ: AMED) as CEO Paul Kusserow begins his second term at the helm. For starters, the company is going full-speed ahead on palliative care, delivered through its subsidiary Contessa Health. Amedisys yesterday announced a partnership with BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee to cover those services, as well as […]

Hospice Organizations Call for Change as Lawmakers Eye Program Integrity

Members of Congress are seeking answers from federal regulators on hospice program integrity as industry advocacy groups call for further action. Reps. Beth Van Duyne (R-Texas) and Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) led a group of lawmakers who wrote to Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, administrator of the U.S Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), asking for the agency […]

Enhabit Sees Staffing Gains, Continues Hunt for Acquisitions

Enhabit Inc., (NYSE: EHAB) is seeing forward momentum on the workforce front as health care labor shortages persist nationwide. The Dallas-based home health and hospice provider is starting to see some payoff from the groundwork the company began laying last year following its spinoff from Encompass Health (NYSE: EHC). This includes the addition of Chief […]

LeadingAge to Congress: Reform Hospice Benefit, Fund Palliative Care

The Medicare Hospice Benefit should allow some concurrent care, and Congress should support greater access to palliative care, among other reforms, according to LeadingAge. The senior care advocacy organization wrote to Congressional leaders today calling on lawmakers to devote attention to improving the 40-year-old benefit. In addition to concurrent care, LeadingAge urged Congress and the […]

St. Croix Hospice Opens Wisconsin De Novo

St. Croix Hospice has expanded in Wisconsin, opening its 14th location in the state. The de novo is located in the Chippewa Falls community. St. Croix, a portfolio company of the private equity firm H.I.G. Capital, now has 200 interdisciplinary team members serving 65 Wisconsin counties. “We have been serving the state of Wisconsin for […]