Hospice of the Chesapeake Appoints New CMO Maryland-based Hospice of the Chesapeake recently named Dr. Marny Fetzer as its new chief medical officer. Fetzer is currently system medical director for palliative care and hospice services at Illinois-based Ascension Health. She will step into the role at Hospice of the Chesapeake in July, alongside seeking a […]
Bluegrass Care Navigators
Ensuring staff are educated and trained is crucial for hospices to minimize workplace safety risks, particularly when it comes to providing community-based care. Safety is an ever present concern for hospice providers in any setting, but the home may be the toughest for employers to help staff navigate. Keeping hospice and home health staff safe […]
Empath Health appoints chief medical executives Florida-based Empath Health recently appointed two new chief medical executives. Dr. Carol Li serves as its chief mission medical administrative officer, and Dr. Neville Sarkari as its chief mission medical affairs officer. In these roles, both will be crucial to the company’s clinical staff retention capabilities, according to Empath […]
Hospice providers are nearly desperate to recruit nurses, but their labor woes do not end there. A shortage of non-clinical staff is an additional sore spot. Providers are anticipating demand for non-clinical staff to rise as they compete for resources in an increasingly fierce labor market. Providers have seen no lights at the end of […]
Bluegrass Care Navigators names clinical services COO Lexington, Ky.-based hospice provider Bluegrass Care Navigators has named Stephanie Greene as its new chief operating officer of clinical services. She succeeds Cassie Mitchell, who left the organization to become CEO of Colorado-based HopeWest Hospice. In this COO role, Greene will be charged with overseeing operations of all […]
The majority of hospice patients are seniors by far, but providers are recognizing and responding to a growing need for pediatric services. As more families learn about the nature of hospice — and as more health care moves into the home setting — demand is escalating. This presents both an opportunity and a challenge for […]
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MEDPAC) has voted unanimously to eliminate the update to the Fiscal Year 2021 Medicare base payment rates for hospice for Fiscal Year 2022 and to cut by 20% the hospice aggregate cap. The payment cap is the upper limit to the amount of funds a hospice can collect from Medicare […]
With coronavirus vaccinations currently in the works, the federal government is developing a framework for equitable allocation. Hospices are among the providers waiting for access to a vaccine, with concerns mounting about availability, efficacy and distribution. These concerns are coming to the forefront as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has indicated […]
Though seniors receive most of the hospice care in the United States, a rising number of hospice and palliative care providers are focusing more of their attention on a very different patient population: children with serious or terminal illness. More than 47% of hospice patients in 2017 were older than 85, according to the National […]
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has begun distributing the first $30 billion installment of public health funds from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, also called the CARES ACT. An estimated $1 billion is expected to go to hospice and palliative care providers via direct deposit. The CARES Act, enacted […]