Structures like Medicare Advantage (MA) can help improve hospice program integrity and reduce the health care spend, according to Robin Heffernan, CEO of Empassion Health. Empassion Health operates in 45 states. Its extensive network of hospice and palliative care providers combine technology with enhanced care coordination and clinical care, identifying eligible hospice patients earlier in […]
Hospices need to keep some under-the-radar issues in mind when preparing to sell to a larger organization, according to Satavia Hazley Austin, author and educator and former CEO and owner of Star of Texas Hospice. Hazley Austin has more than two decades of working in end-of-life care, including as founder of Star of Texas Hospice. […]
Hospices have untapped potential to grow their patient reach, according to Compassus Senior Vice President and Chief Growth Officer Chris Core. Demand for end-of-life care is swelling, but these services remain vastly underutilized nationwide, Core said. Technology is playing an increasingly important role in hospices’ ability to expand access and awareness, he said in a […]
More targeted efforts are needed to combat hospice fraud and preserve program integrity, according to Denis Fleming, Jr., the newly installed chief government affairs officer for the National Alliance for Care at Home. Fleming previously served in the halls of government at the state and federal levels, including time as a congressional staffer, general counsel […]
A patient’s journey towards hospice often begins with a goals-of-care conversation, but those discussions must be timely and effective to truly guide the services a person receives at the end of life. Hospice News spoke with Dr. Kurt Merkelz, M.D., FAAHPM, chief medical officer for Compassus, about the value of these conversations, when they should happen and how […]
When a patient starts to receive hospice care, families often expect to focus on making memories, finding comfort and spending meaningful time together. However, many instead find themselves making frantic phone calls to multiple pharmacies, driving across town to locate medications, or waiting days for prescriptions that should be readily available, with a patient in need at home. According […]
Palliative care payment via the home health benefit will improve access, but providers must contend with workforce pressures and misconceptions about those services, according to Faris Flournoy, CEO of Flournoy Health Systems. Flournoy Health Systems was started by three brothers who navigated the healthcare system after moving in to care for their grandmother as she […]
Hospice utilization among some cancer patients is leveling off and slowing growth, but healthcare providers and medical educators can adopt certain strategies to move the needle. This is according to Dr. Ileana Leyva, regional medical director for VITAS Healthcare, a subsidiary of Chemed Corp. (NYSE: CHE). Having timely goals-of-care conversations is one effective way to […]
Pathways Hospice has tapped Marianne Buss as its new vice president of clinical services. Hospice News recently sat down with Buss to discuss keys to workforce retention amid worsening staffing shortages, mounting regulatory burdens and fast-paced evolutions in artificial intelligence (AI). Buss joins the Colorado-based hospice with nearly three decades of nursing experience and 18 […]
Growing a hospice business is becoming more complicated amid regulatory headwinds and other factors, according to Kathy Poland, the newly appointed CEO of New Day Healthcare. Poland was named the company’s CEO on June 18. She previously served as the New Day’s COO and interim CEO following the death of the home-based care provider’s previous […]
