CMMI Working on Payment Models That Include Palliative Care

The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) is developing new reimbursement pathways for palliative care. As part of that process, CMMI is applying elements of its Medicare Care Choices Model (MCCM) demonstration, which ended Dec. 31, 2021, according to a new CMMI white paper. MCCM was designed to test the impact of concurrent hospice […]

VITAS Expands in Southwestern Florida

VITAS Healthcare, a subsidiary of Chemed (NYSE: CHEM), has opened a de novo location in Florida that expands its presence into three additional counties. The company’s newest location is in the City of Clewiston, Florida. Unlike some of its competitors, VITAS has focused on de novos for geographic growth rather than acquisitions, in part due […]

Hospice Multiples Unlikely to Drop

A turbulent economy and slight cool-down in deal activity early in the year have led some to question whether the record-high valuations for hospice assets will start to tumble. Like most business sectors, health care has felt the aftershocks of global economic trends such as rising inflation, supply chain disruption, and the continued effects of […]

Former VITAS Manager Becomes VP of Operations; Hawaii E.D. Doc Turns Hospice Medical Director

Former VITAS Manager Returns to Fill Operational VP Role Chemed Corporation (NYSE: CHEM) subsidiary VITAS Healthcare recently named Laury Bliss as its new vice president of operations in southern California. She returns to the company after nearly three years at the helm of San Diego-based The Elizabeth Hospice as its chief strategy officer. Prior to […]

VITAS Deploys New Retention Program to Combat Labor Headwinds

VITAS Healthcare, a subsidiary of Chemed Corp. (NYSE: CHEM), recently launched a targeted hiring and retention wellness initiative designed to ease workforce strains and increase capacity for patient care, paving the way for sustainable long-term growth. The program, which includes one-time retention bonuses, is focused on building up the company’s supply of licensed nurses, nurse […]

US Senators Call on CMS to Boost Palliative Care Resources

A bipartisan group of nine U.S. Senators have written to U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, calling for a payment model demonstration designed to support greater access to palliative care. The lawmakers urged the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) to develop a dedicated community-based palliative care benefit, which […]

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 […]

How Does the Workforce Shortage Affect Hospice M&A?

The labor pressures in the hospice community are straining clinical operations, but the issue is also becoming a more pressing concern when it comes to mergers and acquisitions. Buyers, in fact, are paying much closer attention to workplace culture and human resources as they select acquisition targets. Hospice M&A has been exploding in recent years […]

Hospices Need a ‘Huge Catapult’ to Replenish Workforce

If enacted, the recently reintroduced Palliative Care and Hospice Education Training Act (PCHETA) could make a dent in the recruitment barriers that hospices keep hitting. But clinical education will need a much larger boost to ensure a sustainable workforce, according to many providers.  The training issue is a serious impediment to hospice recruitment, as very […]

Medication Shortages Imperil Hospice Access, Quality

Hospice providers and patients are having difficulty procuring medications due to nationwide drug shortages, threatening quality of care and patients’ access to hospice. These include essential drugs for pain and symptom management. The scope of the shortages seems to be widening. Slightly more than 240 medications were in short supply at the close of Q1 […]