Hospice provider Trustbridge, operating in Broward and Palm Beach counties in Florida, has opened a new new medical distribution facility that will enable the hospice to expand its operations and expedite delivery of supplies and equipment to patients. The facility will serve as a satellite location to a larger, existing distribution center in Palm Beach […]
The hospice mergers and acquisitions market continued to be robust early in the first quarter of 2020 but took a sharp dive as companies shifted their attention towards responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic fallout. A number of transactions, large and small, have occurred in May, which could signal a resurgence. The outlook […]
New York state-based Hospice Buffalo has expanded its inpatient operations to include a unit dedicated to COVID-19 patients. The hospice provider is also increasing the bereavement services it offers to the community. The hospice owned a 10-bed inpatient unit that had long been out of use following a move to a 22-bed unit on the […]
A proposed House bill, Helping Our Senior Population in Comfort Environments (HOSPICE) Act, could increase accreditors and U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) survey frequency from every three years to every other year for hospices. These provisions — and the public reporting of accreditation survey results — could weigh heavily on both accrediting organizations […]
Change is coming for hospices in 2021 as the industry starts to shift towards value-based payment models, including the Primary Care First initiative. As the implementation dates for these programs approach, hospices need to identify the value proposition and revenue potential for each of the models that will fall under the auspices of that program. […]
As the novel coronavirus pandemic continues disrupting the business of hospice, many providers anticipate a decrease in annual revenues for 2020, according to recent research by the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC). Among the contributing factors to revenue drops is a decline in hospice patient admissions and referrals amid the public health […]
Anxieties abound among hospice providers regarding a potential deluge of COVID-19 cases as states begin to reduce social distancing and shelter-in-place restrictions, even as many hope for easier access to patients in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Most U.S. states are to varying degrees lifting public safety measures such as stay-at-home orders, business closures […]
Many hospice leaders believe that states’ gradual relaxation of COVID-19 shelter-in-place restrictions will positively impact their businesses, despite concerns about increased risks to staff. Providers expect that increased access to patients living in facilities will drive clinical and financial improvement. More than half of hospice provider respondents to a Hospice News reader survey indicated that […]
Hospices routinely provide bereavement care to family members after a patient reaches the end of life, but increasingly during the COVID-19 pandemic they are seeing more people afflicted with disenfranchised grief. Disenfranchised grief is a form of bereavement that is not acknowledged as legitimate by others or even by the families themselves. Research indicates that […]
Hospices nationwide are designating specific interdisciplinary clinicians who work exclusively with COVID-positive patients to reduce risk to the rest of their staff and vulnerable patient populations. Selecting staff to serve on dedicated COVID teams has involved several considerations and additional measures as hospices work to minimize exposure. “The communities we serve in general are seeing […]