Lawmakers in Connecticut and Vermont have recently introduced legislation aimed at protecting hospice and home health workers. Some stakeholders worry that the laws may impact care continuity among vulnerable homebound terminally ill populations lacking end-of-life support. Legislators in Vermont recently passed an act related to mental health response service guidelines and social service provider safety, […]
Improving education and training for family caregivers may give hospices’ quality scores a boost. Maryland-based Hospice of the Chesapeake has introduced a standardized caregiver training program designed to enhance the work they had previously done in this area. After a review of scientific literature, it became clear that nationally, caregiver training was spotty, and this […]
Research has found links between greater telemedicine utilization and improvements in health care access and quality, particularly among chronically ill populations. A recent Health Affairs study has dug into the quality and cost impacts of telehealth utilization during the pandemic. Researchers examined more than 5.5 million beneficiaries with continuous enrollment in traditional Medicare who received […]
VITAS Healthcare, a subsidiary of Chemed Corp. (NYSE: CHE), has completed its $85 million acquisition of Covenant Health and Community Services’ hospice operations and one assisted living facility location. The deal is structured as an asset purchase, which allows the buyer to assume liability for assets included in the transaction. It also brings VITAS into […]
The Oregon-based provider Partners in Care has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) due to audit-related claims denials. Partners in Care took this unusual step after pursuing every other available means of redress, including the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) review and appeals process, according […]
Calls are growing louder in support of increased accreditation organization oversight that could help curb fraudulent activity in the hospice space. In a proposed rule released in February the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) introduced a number of provisions aimed at addressing conflicts of interest and establishing more consistent standards, processes and […]
Despite intensifying regulatory scrutiny on its deals, UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) remains poised for further acquisitions. During the past two years, the insurance giant has completed a slew of acquisitions spanning much of the health care continuum — including hospice, palliative care and home health — as well as health care technology, largely through its […]
Lagging supportive services around social determinants of health and limited access to hospice and palliative care are driving disparities among rural family caregivers. Rural caregivers are more vulnerable to adverse emotional health impacts than others due to their remote locations, researcher Arienne Patano, PhD student at Michigan State University, said at the American Academy of […]
Though the Medicare Advantage hospice carve-in is going away at the end of this year, those operators still have a role to play in value-based care. The carve-in, formally known as the hospice component of the value-based insurance design model (VBID), will expire on Dec. 31. The program was designed to test hospice coverage through […]
Hospice providers navigate various challenges when addressing unmet needs and goals of care among patients with severe enduring anorexia nervosa. Also referred to as terminal anorexia, the diagnosis and care for this condition can be a controversial topic to both define and address, according to Dr. Ingrid Berg, palliative medicine physician at CHI Health, an […]
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