Emergency department physicians are adept at predicting when a patient is likely to die and can facilitate patients’ access to hospice care earlier in the course of their illness, according to recent research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. However, improved communication and coordination between emergency department physicians and hospice medical directors may be […]
Walmart (NYSE: WMT) is partnering with Amedisys (NYSE: AMED) to expand hospice utilization nationwide through the retail giant’s new health care arm Walmart Health. Walmart Health contracts local health care providers in certain markets to provide primary care, laboratory services, dental optical, diagnostic imaging and other services that will now include hospice and home health, […]
To ensure growth of palliative care availability and utilization, the health care system must help improve patients’ understanding of what palliative care actually is. Key to achieving this is a change of perspective on how clinicians, patients and families perceive treatment of serious illness, according to Adil Akhtar, M.D., an oncologist for the physician practice […]
A rising number of nonprofit hospices are forming regional affiliations in an effort to remain competitive with large for-profit players in the space. One of the originators of this practice, Ohio’s Hospice, is seeing steady growth, engaging new member organizations and a completing a substantial renovation of its headquarters in Washington Township, Ohio. Coalitions such […]
St. Paul, Minn.-based St. Croix Hospice has expanded its footprint in Nebraska by adding a new location in the state’s Grand Island community. Establishment of the new office resulted from community stakeholder requests for additional hospice services in the area, according to the hospice. St. Croix is a subsidiary of the Chicago-based investment firm Vistria […]
Engaging with senior living operators to provide hospice care in their facilities can provide opportunities to grow patient census and encounter patients earlier in the course of their illness, according to Mark Hayes, vice president of operations in Sumter County, Fla., for VITAS Healthcare, the hospice subsidiary of Chemed Corp. (NYSE: CHE). VITAS recently opened […]
Scotch Plains, N.J.-based Center for Hope Hospice & Palliative Care recently established a specialized volunteer program to support patients in their final hours. The hospice dubbed the program the 11th Hour Volunteers. Nurses call in these volunteers when they perceive that a patient is in the process of actively dying. Often the calls come when […]
Illinois-headquartered Seasons Hospice & Palliative Care is growing with the establishment of a new inpatient hospice unit on the 8th floor of St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa, Fla. The hospice and the hospital redesigned the former acute care space to create a more serene environment conducive to end-of-life care. Most hospice care is provided in […]
As more of the U.S. health care system migrates towards value-based care, efforts on the part of payers and other stakeholders to promote advance care planning could lead to increased hospice utilization as well as earlier admission of prospective patients. Advance care planning is designed to identify patients’ wishes, goals, and desires for their care […]
An increasing number of hospice providers are incorporating virtual reality (VR) technology into their staff training. Hospice of Southern Maine is one of those organizations. In 2018, they were approached by Embodied Labs, one of the leading vendors of this technology in the health care space. The idea was to collaborate on a new VR […]