Hospices will need to leverage creativity to thrive in a Medicare Advantage reimbursement environment. Often called the Medicare Advantage carve-in, the hospice component of the value-based insurance design (VBID) model is now in its third year. Recently, the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) extended the demo through 2030. Though its ultimate outcome […]
Hospice providers in facility-based settings may be underutilizing Medicare’s service intensity add-on (SIA). Compared to routine home care, patients receiving the general inpatient level of care (GIP) were 22.8% less likely to have a SIA-applicable visit, according to an analysis by Abt Associates. SIA visits for patients in GIP on average had 67.6 fewer minutes. […]
When it comes to labor, hospice providers are walking a balance beam between the need to increase capacity and the long-term sustainability of offering bonuses, tech investments and larger benefits packages. Publicly traded hospice providers have reported improvements on turnover and workforce shortages. But the strides have come at a cost. While the public companies […]
Three main factors drove the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) decision to extend the value-based insurance design (VBID) model through 2030: patients’ social needs, health equity and improved care coordination. Originally set to run between 2021 and 2024, CMS indicated yesterday that it would invest five additional years in the demonstration. This […]
Current advance care planning reimbursement structures are limiting utilization and access of these services, particularly among communities of color. The payment barriers blocking more equitable advance care planning are two-fold, existing on both the health care provider and patient sides. On the patient side, Medicare beneficiaries face out-of-pocket costs when advance care planning is performed […]
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is extending the value-based insurance design demonstration for calendar years 2025 to 2030, including the hospice component. The hospice component of VBID, also called the MA carve-in, launched in 2021 and was originally slated to complete after four years. Each year, elements of the program have […]
When retiring hospice nurses are ready to pass the torch, often no one is there to take it. The same applies to instructors in nursing schools who could help replenish their ranks. A dearth of nursing educators is contributing to hospice workforce shortages, leading providers to compensate by expanding in-house training programs. Currently, nursing schools […]
Despite years of scrutiny over the duration of hospice care, new data show that longer stays reduce health care costs in the last year of life by as much as 11%. All told, hospice care — regardless of length of stay — saves Medicare approximately $3.5 billion for patients in their last year of life, […]
Money isn’t everything when it comes to recruitment and retention. While compensation is an important factor for attracting and keeping staff, hospices need to consider other crucial aspects. Employee benefits, a career path, organizational culture and leadership engagement also weigh into workers’ decisions to join, stay or leave a hospice. Hospices should take a close […]
Maryland-based Hospice of the Chesapeake and its affiliates are unifying under the organization’s main brand. Effective April 1, affiliates Calvert Hospice and Hospice of Charles County will be known as Hospice of the Chesapeake. The unification will “allow for greater consistency across the Hospice of the Chesapeake service area,” the hospice and palliative care provider […]
By continuing to use the site, you agree to the use of cookies. more information
The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this.
