State Palliative Care Councils May Be Proliferating

Wisconsin is among the states that have recently taken steps to improve palliative care access and awareness. Wisconsin legislators recently introduced a bill that would establish a statewide Palliative Care Council. If passed, the bill would require the state’s Department of Health Services (DHS) to create a group of palliative clinical professionals, patients and family […]

Staff Poaching on Rise Amid Hospice Labor Shortage

As hospices continue to duke it out in the labor market, more providers are contending with competitors poaching their employees. A number of hospice leaders have told Hospice News that poaching is becoming a greater source of tension in the industry’s recruitment and retention ground war. This often comes with promises of higher wages, more […]

Early Goals-of-Care Talks Could Improve Hospice Access for Dementia Patients

Terminally ill patients suffering from dementia are more likely to receive life-sustaining treatments when children versus spouses were involved as decision-makers, according to recent research. The difference in end-of-life treatment choices suggests that more work needs to be done to ensure that surrogate decision makers and care teams are aware of patient preferences as early […]

Hospices See New Opportunities in Adult Day Market

More hospice providers are diversifying their business lines to include adult day services. Some hospices see these programs as an extension of their mission to support aging and chronically ill patients and their caregivers. Adult day service centers are designed to care for individuals who require assistance during the day in the absence of caregivers […]

Five Wisconsin Hospices Form Collaborative to Bolster Payer Relationships

Five Wisconsin hospice and palliative care providers have formalized a partnership to maximize their scale and negotiating power with payers in value-based payment models. The current focus of the new organization, called the Wisconsin Hospice & Palliative Care Collaborative (WHPCC), is reimbursement contracts for palliative care, using the term supportive care management.  WHPCC has incorporated […]