Joliet, Illinois-based Lightways Hospice and Serious Illness Care has nearly tripled the capacity of its pediatric palliative care program, expanding in geography, staff, and patient census. The nonprofit’s pediatric program now has capacity for 120 patients. Lightways’ current pediatric census has risen to 100 patients, up from 40. Additionally, the program’s service area has extended […]
Effective governance can be critical to a hospice’s performance and growth, and a number of providers have been working to optimize the engagement of their boards of directors or trustees. To develop an engaged board that adds value to an organization, hospices are taking governance activity beyond the standard, periodic meetings and fundraising events. This […]
Current immigration policies are straining hospices’ ability to grow and retain their workforce amid widespread shortages. Immigrant workers help to fill some of the biggest areas of need in the hospice and palliative care labor supply. But national policies are contributing to a diminishing pool of these workers, putting pressure on providers’ capacity to accept […]
The hospice chaplain shortage is reaching a tipping point. As they work to recruit and retain their chaplain labor force, hospices are contending with a barrage of issues that also can impact patient access. Hospice chaplains are being asked to do more with less time and resources available, which can adversely affect the quality of […]
Pennsylvania-based Homeland at Home recently added community-based palliative care to its repertoire of services in response to rising demand for this care. Homeland previously provided facility-based palliative services and is now stepping into the home. The provider’s palliative care team includes a physician medical director, social worker and nurse practitioners who now offer in-home palliative […]
Researchers recently found that “trigger systems” signaling when a patient may need palliative care can boost utilization of those services, as well as advance care planning and hospice admissions. The American Journal of Managed Care recently examined the impacts of two studies published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology that explored ways to help providers […]
Connecticut-based Regional Hospice has opened an inpatient unit at New Milford Hospital in partnership with the health system Nuvance Health. The health system has also designated Regional as its preferred hospice provider in its home state. The center will house hospice patients who qualify for general inpatient care in two renovated private suites where they […]
The unique needs of families and children facing life-limiting illness can wear pediatric palliative and hospice care clinicians especially thin, and the potential for burnout can leave providers even more short-staffed than many already are. Pediatric subspecialists are at a higher risk of burnout than others, according to authors of a 2020 study from the […]
Patients suffering from long COVID stand to benefit if health care providers integrate palliative care principles into their approach to treating the disease. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) defines “long COVID” as situations in which patients have symptoms that last beyond four weeks of their initial infection. As of now, insufficient […]
Some hospice providers are walking a tightrope as they decide how to invest in recruitment and retention. Hospices have been pouring financial resources into efforts to bolster their workforce and are seeking ways to balance the costs associated with recruitment that differ from retention expenses. However, the process of calculating and comparing those costs can […]
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