TRU Community Care is among several hospice providers across the country to employ new machine learning tools to deliver home-based care, overcoming challenges such as cost, implementation and patient reception. Though integrating additional technologies has become a new priority for hospices during the COVID-19 pandemic, many hospice providers were already leveraging technologies such as data analytics, […]
Category: Technology
As hospice and palliative care providers turn more towards telehealth and remote patient monitoring during the COVID-19 pandemic, a rising number are directing their attention towards the question of interoperability: How can the multiple electronics systems communicate with each other and interface with the providers electronic medical records system? A step beyond linking their own […]
Data management and analysis will become increasingly important as hospices move gradually closer to working in value-based payment environments. While current Medicare Hospice Benefit isn’t going away anytime soon, it stands to reason that at least a portion of hospice business will include a wider range of payment models, particularly with the advent of Primary […]
While some hospice care definitely requires in-person visits, providers are able to involve telehealth in the full scope of interdisciplinary services during the novel coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicare Services (CMS) indicated in a conference call. The agency clarified that social workers, chaplains, nurses, physicians and members of other disciplines involved in […]
The COVID-19 pandemic has hindered some of the hands-on patient care that hospices deliver. While some hospices were well-positioned to integrate and increase technology utilization into a wider scope of services, others have hit obstacles. When the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced temporary waivers on requirements last month, expanding the allowable […]
As hospices begin to offer a wider range of services via telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic, they may need to get smarter when it comes to cybersecurity. Hospices often rely on popular videoconferencing platforms to conduct telehealth visits with patients, including Zoom, Skype and other systems. According to a blog on the company’s website, the […]
As the COVID-19 outbreak continues to take shape, hospices are increasingly using telehealth services to limit physical contact with patients and practice social distancing. Strategies to implement this method of support to patients and their families are evolving during the worldwide health emergency. Hospices around the country are working to reduce risk of exposure to […]
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is expanding the use of telehealth to help patients, families and clinicians practice social distancing during the ongoing pandemic. To date, CMS has not confirmed whether hospice physicians will be able to conduct certifications or recertifications using telehealth rather than the currently required face-to-face encounter. CMS […]
Massachusetts-based health care data analytics firm Cyft Inc. has established a nationwide effort to help health care organizations, and hospices in particular, learn to better collect, analyze and leverage data to support patient care and improve negotiating power with payers as well as referral partners. The Serious Illness Performance Collaborative is designed to educate providers […]
Two final rules released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) are designed to improve information technology interoperability among health care providers, including hospices, as well as provide patients with greater access to their own health data. The two regulations will be administered by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health […]