Hospices Building Value-Based Avenues to Palliative Care

Value-based payment models are among the factors spurring rising interest in palliative care among hospices. These models present new avenues towards palliative care reimbursement, along with risks. As the payment landscape evolves, understanding payer priorities will be key for hospices weighing the risks and opportunities in palliative care. Hospices have increasingly recognized value-based models as […]

Capital Caring, Seasons Execs: Improving Hospice Diversity Starts from the Inside Out

Racial divides have long-plagued the hospice field, rising to heightened levels of concern amid the coronavirus pandemic and events leading to civil unrest in the last year. Though hospices have taken deeper dives into improving access to care among underserved populations and addressing diversity and equity in their organizations, much work lies ahead to create […]

Time, Technology of the Essence in Shifting Hospice Referral Mix

Hospices have seen a shift in their referral mix in the last year and half during the pandemic, with patient streams moving away from institutions and towards physician offices. Adapting to the ways they market, educating and coordinating care with referring partners, as well as building and growing these relationships, has hospices honing focus on […]

Hospices Compete for Staff in Job Seekers’ Market

Hospice providers are competing more intensely to fill their ranks from a smaller pool of prospective employees. Hospices will need to offer flexible schedules, mental health support and a diverse and inclusive culture to attract and retain staff in what has become a job seekers’ market. Workforce shortages have long predated the coronavirus pandemic, but […]

Seasons, AccentCare VP: Hospice Education Essential for Underserved Communities

The Seasons Hospice & Palliative Care/AccentCare has appointed Nicole McCann-Davis as associate vice president of health equity and access. In this newly created position, she will oversee the company’s efforts to foster equity, diversity and inclusion among staff and its patient population. Seasons and AccentCare merged in late 2020, but the two segments have retained […]

Diversity Initiatives a Rising Priority for Hospices

Race continues to represent one of the largest barriers to hospice and palliative care. Hospice and palliative care providers are honing in on equity and inclusion, seeking to foster diversity among patients and staff alike. The United States population has grown more racially and ethnically diverse as it ages, according to a U.S. Census Bureau […]

Former CMS Chief Berwick: Hospice, Health Care Needs to Reorient Systems Around Patient Needs

Delivering quality health care requires a moral compass, according to Don Berwick, M.D., former administrator for the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and founding CEO of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. This requires hospice providers to go beyond regulatory compliance when they think about quality, with equitable access as a key component, […]

Hospices Employ Gap Analyses to Build Palliative Care Programs

An assessment of community needs is essential for hospices working to establish or grow their palliative care programs. Providers need to understand the population that they serve in terms of demographics, culture and the availability of palliative care and other health care services in that region. While no standardized definition exists for “palliative care,” the […]

Providers Strategize to Close Racial Gaps in Hospice Care

While several health care providers have expanded their diversity initiatives to bridge racial divides, hospices have much room to grow in fostering stronger connections with underserved communities of color. Hospice providers who participated in a recent nationwide study indicated that increasing staff diversity and developing committees dedicated to diversity initiatives were strategies yielding the most […]

Patients See Demographic Barriers to Advance Care Planning

Racial, ethnic and sociodemographic divides are the leading barriers impacting advance care planning utilizations in the United States. Hospice providers working to expand access will need to take a closer look at the unique forces driving disparities, particularly among people of color. Studies have shown that advance care planning can reduce hospitalizations and health care […]