The barometer is falling in hospice care delivery. Providers are unveiling diverse tactics to improve outcomes and family satisfaction amid a sea of changes. Adaptability is a provider’s hallmark in today’s current hospice landscape, according to Greg Wood, executive director at Hospice of the Ozarks. The Arkansas-based nonprofit is affiliated with Baxter Health and provides […]
The wide range of palliative care services available nationwide can present obstacles around consistent quality measurement. Calls are growing louder for a federally established set of standardized palliative guidelines. Capturing real-time quality data is an important part of effectively managing patients’ symptoms and needs, according to Dr. Monisha Pujari, medical director of Georgia-based Longleaf Hospice […]
Maryland-based Hospice of the Chesapeake has increased its return rates for Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) surveys through a performance improvement project. CAHPS surveys are among the most important sources of hospice quality data. The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) requires that hospices send the survey to families following […]
Research has uncovered common threads of quality impacts among the largest hospices nationwide as providers employ a range of initiatives to uproot the underlying causes of staff and family caregiver dissatisfaction. Strong communication, streamlined operational processes and an encouraging organizational culture are three significant drivers of positive end-of-life experiences for families and staff alike, according […]
Stakeholders and policymakers who shape the hospice industry are making connections between a provider’s tax status and quality indicators. Their perceptions could have significant repercussions on the outlook of hospice investments. More private equity (PE) investors have stepped into the hospice and home health space in recent years. This trend extends across the broader health […]
Hospices and other health care providers are increasingly recognizing the value proposition of end-of-life doulas. Organizations are taking varied routes to leverage doula’s skills to improve quality. End-of-life doulas support patients and their families in a number of broad and diverse ways, according to Erin Collins, program director of The Peaceful Presence Project. Collins is […]
Having an adaptable approach to compliance is key in an evolving hospice regulatory environment. The regulatory climate has seen an array of changes aimed at curbing fraud in the industry and improving quality. Heightening oversight has focused on hospice program integrity efforts, as well as increased auditing activity, changes in rules for hospice sales and […]
Care coordination and quality data will be engines for hospice referral growth. Hospices saw census volumes drop during the COVID-19 public health emergency as facilities nationwide restricted access to patients amid mandated state closures. Providers often turned to electronic communications to reach patients in facility- and community-based settings alike. Adaptability has been among the keys […]
Hospices, in aggregate, are showing improvement on the quality measure for visits in the last days of life. The number of registered nurse and social worker visits during a patient’s final week is one of the seven quality measures that CMS uses to evaluate providers. In Calendar Year 2021, the share of hospice care days […]
St. Croix Hospice recently unveiled data showing how the company leveraged predictive analytics technology to improve quality outcomes. In 2019 the Minnesota-headquartered hospice provider began utilizing a predictive analytics tool from Medalogix. The post-acute data analytics company develops machine learning solutions designed to identify patients in need of home health, hospice or palliative care services […]
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