Hospice providers are increasingly embracing customer relationship management (CRM) solutions to streamline communications with referral partners and improve connectivity to prospective patients. With communications and connectivity strained amid social distancing during COVID-19, the pandemic has impacted hospice provider relationships with both referral partners and patients. Hospices have increasingly turned to technology to reach patients sooner […]
Category: Technology
An increasing number of hospice providers are incorporating virtual reality (VR) technology into patient care to help reduce pain, anxiety and feelings of isolation. Hospice Savannah worked with the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) to create a VR program that has had positive impacts on patients and students alike. In collaboration with SCAD […]
Post-acute care company Compassus has built new efficiencies into its onboarding procedures for newly hired nurse practitioners in its palliative care service line, accelerating the process and reducing costs. Compassus, which provides hospice and palliative care in addition to home health, has a national footprint. During the COVID-19 pandemic Compassus found it necessary to conduct […]
Homecare Homebase — a producer of software serving the hospice and home care industries — has launched a partner with the health care tech firm Cipher Health to improve patient engagement. Homecare Homebase provides much of the industry with electronic health records (EHR) systems. The partnership expects to make Homecare Homebase EHR systems interoperable with […]
Hospices and other health care providers have greatly expanded the use of telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic. New research shows that patients and families have an overall positive perception of these services. The scope of telehealth has significantly broadened during the ongoing federally declared health emergency, with the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services […]
While CMS has not announced any permanent policy changes, provisions to expand telehealth are likely to continue long-term, with many hospice leaders and advocates in full support. Hospices will have to work out several kinks as they navigate the telehealth landscape post-COVID-19. During this period of national disaster, the U.S. Department of Health and Human […]
Hospice providers have increasingly adopted predictive analytic systems to identify patients in need of their services further upstream in their disease trajectory, as well as to demonstrate their value to payers and referral partners, including Medicare Advantage plans. The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will begin allowing hospices to participate in Medicare […]
As stakeholders in the hospice space call on the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to permanently extend temporary telehealth flexibilities following the COVID-19 national emergency, hospice providers are increasingly looking ahead to potential long-term impacts. Hospice organizations have much to consider as the future of telehealth post-COVID drives rising demand for virtual […]
Hospices are using virtual communication to support the health of their businesses as well as the health of their patients during the ongoing pandemic. In a time of social distancing and sheltering-in-place, providers have had to up their games when it comes to digital marketing. Traditional hospice marketing has largely relied on methods such as […]
Allocating protective personal equipment (PPE) to staff has been an ongoing difficulty for hospice providers as they contend with dwindling supplies and increased costs as the coronavirus pandemic continues. Emerging technologies such as heat mapping are showing promise in helping hospices to identify geographic areas hardest hit by the novel coronavirus and in the greatest […]