Gary Winzelberg, M.D., is director of the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill’s Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship Program and associate professor in the Division of Geriatric Medicine of the UNC School of Medicine. Board certified in hospice and palliative, geriatric and internal medicine, his teaching focuses on improving providers’ serious illness communication […]
Well-known in the hospice field, Clevis Parker, M.D., chief medical officer of ProCare Hospice in Nevada, was recently named CEO of that organization. In addition to leading the organization, Parker will continue to also serve as chief medical officer. Parker came to ProCare last year after serving as chief medical officer for Nathan Adelson Hospice, […]
Nick Jurkowitz, partner at California-based Fenton Law Group, represents and advises hospices and other health care providers on litigation and regulatory related matters. He has represented providers in all aspects of administrative hearings and investigations, and providers in contract disputes, business torts, insurance fraud cases, employment discrimination cases, unlawful employment termination cases and Medicare and […]
Annie Acs, director of policy and innovation for National Hospice & Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) recently spoke with Hospice News about the opportunities and challenges for hospice providers navigating towards Primary Care First. Of the payment options that fall under its umbrella, the Serious Illness Population (SIP) model shows potentially the greatest promise for hospice […]
The number of hospice providers that are diversifying their services lines to include palliative care continues to rise. Programs like Medicare Advantage and the Primary Care First initiative, particularly the Serious Illness Population model, present opportunities for further growth as well as improving access and quality of care for patients. Currently, hospices provide about 50% […]
CEO Jim Palazzo founded Transitions Hospice in 2007 as a portfolio company within the Transitions Group — which also holds skilled nursing, home health, medical equipment and therapy assets. He became interested in health care during his college years while working as a caregiver for a friend’s 87-year-old grandfather three nights a week and began […]
Sachin Jain, M.D., on July 1 took the helm of SCAN Health Plan, a nonprofit Medicare Advantage plan, as the company’s president and CEO. Jain in April stepped down as CEO of Aspire Health and CareMore Health, both subsidiaries of Anthem (NYSE: ANTM). At SCAN, Jain leads a $2.4 billion organization that covers more than […]
Eric Bush, M.D., is a board-certified hospice and palliative medicine physician, joining Hospice of the Chesapeake as chief medical officer in 2016. In this role, Bush provides strategic and leadership direction to the medical staff, which includes physicians and nurse practitioners. Having served first as a licensed practical nurse in the U.S. Army Reserve, a […]
Paul Chiang, M.D., is a senior medical and practice advisor at the Home Centered Care Institute (HCCI) and medical director for a suburban Chicago practice, Northwestern Medicine HomeCare Physicians (HCP). Chiang has focused on delivering care to medically complex patients in the home, including those on hospice and palliative care. In addition to these professional […]
The COVID-19 pandemic has hit many hospices hard both financially and from an operational standpoint. Many providers have wrangled with supply shortages, dwindling access to personal protective equipment, rising prices, reduced referrals and very limited access to their patients in nursing homes during the outbreak. Hospices also have had to redesign many of their processes […]