Nashville-based hospice provider Compassus has stepped up de novo activity in several states, most recently in Huntington, Ind., with other new locations in the town of Washington, Iowa and Waco, Texas. Each of these three new locations has opened within the past 30 days. The Indiana location will serve four counties surrounding the Ft. Wayne, […]
For the first time since the early 20th Century more people are ending their lives in their homes rather than the hospital or a nursing facility, according to a new report that appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine. The percentage of deaths that took place in a private residence rose to 30% in […]
The United States is in the top tier compared to other nations in terms of patient access to palliative care, though much of the country remains underserved despite rising demand. Only 14% of the global population has access to palliative care at the highest level of provision, with the highest concentrations in European countries, according […]
North Carolina-based hospice and palliative care provider Four Seasons has launched a pilot telehealth-based pharmacy program that will include a virtual pharmacist system for patients who live in rural areas of their home state. Four Seasons will be collaborating with pharmacy benefit manager Delta Care Rx on the project. Telehealth is becoming increasingly important for […]
Florida-based Suncoast Hospice is expanding its Healing Oasis program, which offers reiki as a complementary therapy to patients’ families and the bereaved. Suncoast Hospice is a member of Empath Health, a nonprofit integrated network of care supporting patients and families challenged by chronic and advanced illness in the Tampa Bay region. The Healing Oasis program […]
As hospices nationwide develop new services to engage patients further upstream, some are rebranding to reflect their expanded scope and to avoid the word “hospice” in their company names, hoping to ameliorate patients’ anxiety about end-of-life care. Hospice Hawaii is now Navian Hawaii. The 40-year-old, nonprofit organization recently made the name change to better reflect […]
Hospices will soon have the opportunity to participate in value-based payment models such as Medicare Advantage and Primary Care First. To be successful in such an environment, providers need to strengthen their skill sets when it comes to early patient identification, population stratification, among other competencies. Medicare Advantage plans are offered by private insurance companies […]
In an increasingly competitive digital marketplace, hospice providers are embracing direct-to-consumer marketing tactics to include patients and families in their outreach. Among the drivers of this trend is the need to educate the public about the nature of hospice and palliative care. Most people in the United States have a low level of awareness of […]
A national team of researchers are collaborating to improve access to palliative care among tribal communities in the United States. The project will focus on the Cheyenne River, Rosebud and Pine Ridge Reservations in South Dakota. It follows previous work to improve cancer care on the Rosebud and Pine Ridge reservations in the same state. […]
The average length of stay for hospice patients in the United States rose 5% to 77.9 days during 2018, up from 74.5 days in 2017, according to a new report from health care data analytics firm Trella Health. Length of stay has been a double-edged sword for the hospice industry. A main goal for most […]