Laurie Tillotson-Colbert was recently tapped to be director of provider and community relations for Empath Health, which among other holdings owns and operates Suncoast Hospice in Florida. In this role, Tillotson-Colbert will lead teams who will work to develop professional relationships with care and referral partners as well as community outreach, including engagement with populations that […]
The Florida Agency for Healthcare Administration has awarded a certificate of need to Tampa-based Chapters Health System that will double the nonprofit provider’s hospice presence in that state. “At Chapters Health, we are always looking for opportunities to increase and expand access to quality health care for a greater number of individuals in our communities […]
Hospice industry groups are calling on the Trump Administration to allow the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to relax hospice regulations in response to the COVID-19 crisis. The National Hospice & Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) has asked the White House in a letter to declare the pandemic a national disaster, allowing hospices and […]
The top executives for companies in the hospice space have expressed serious concerns about the forthcoming inclusion of hospice in Medicare’s value-based insurance design model, often called the Medicare Advantage hospice carve-in. Through Medicare Advantage, CMS contracts with private insurance companies to provide coverage for Medicare beneficiaries. CMS earlier this year announced that it would […]
Massachusetts-based health care data analytics firm Cyft Inc. has established a nationwide effort to help health care organizations, and hospices in particular, learn to better collect, analyze and leverage data to support patient care and improve negotiating power with payers as well as referral partners. The Serious Illness Performance Collaborative is designed to educate providers […]
The U.S. Centers for Health & Human Services (CMS) has issued guidelines for protecting health care workers who operate in the home and community from COVID-19, including hospice providers. The CMS materials contain guidance for screening for and treatment of the virus in addition to when patients should be transitioned to higher acuity care. The […]
Despite recent hits on the overall markets, hospice company revenues may be protected by the growing demand for their services. The U.S. stock markets took a major blow due to turmoil stemming from volatile oil prices and the continuing economic impact of the global COVID 19 outbreak. Monday’s drop — the worse since 2008 — caused […]
Hospice provider AseraCare has agreed to a $1 million settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice in a longstanding Qui Tam False Claims Act (FCA) case that began in 2008. The outcome of the case could set an important precedent as FCA suits continue to be the most prevalent enforcement actions that target hospices in […]
Drug diversion — the transfer of a prescription medication from a lawful to an unlawful channel of distribution or use — is a prevalent issue throughout the health care continuum. Hospice providers and other organizations that provide care in the home face unique challenges due to the potential easy access to the patients’ medications. Despite […]
The health care community is bracing itself for a potential widespread outbreak of the COVID 19 coronavirus strain, and hospices are no exception. While hospice patients are in their final days, preventing infections that could cause greater suffering remains essential to the hospice mission. Patients infected with COVID 19 have presented in nearly 70 locations […]
