Compassus, VNS Health Team Up to Manage End-of-Life Care for Medicare Advantage Payers

Compassus and VNS Health have formed a value-based collaboration aimed at improving access, awareness and quality of hospice and palliative care services. The two home-based care organizations are joining forces in a Medicare Advantage (MA) Value-Based Insurance Design (VBID) model partnership. Through the collaboration, VNS Health and Compassus will help MA health plans to manage […]

Hospices Get Creative to Succeed in VBID

Hospices will need to leverage creativity to thrive in a Medicare Advantage reimbursement environment. Often called the Medicare Advantage carve-in, the hospice component of the value-based insurance design (VBID) model is now in its third year. Recently, the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) extended the demo through 2030. Though its ultimate outcome […]

Key Trend for Hospices to Watch: Managed Care Becomes a Juggernaut

As the health care ecosystem changes, hospices will have to evolve. Going forward, this will likely include more engagement with managed care organizations. Though hospices operate within the dedicated Medicare benefit, market forces in the system at large wield considerable influence on how they operate — including the meteoric rise of managed care. This is […]

10 ‘Hidden Gem’ Hospice News Stories from 2022

Huge acquisitions, the labor shortage and regulation dominated the news this year, but other important trends emerged that warrant attention. Below are 10 of this year’s “hidden gem” stories that didn’t quite make our top 10 most read. These cover the innovative partnerships, new technologies, pediatric care, health equity and other key developments in the […]

Compassus Makes Moves in C-Suite; Workforce Retention at Core of AccentCare’s Leadership Change

New COO Takes Helm at Compassus Laura Templeton has risen through the ranks at Compassus, recently becoming its new COO and executive vice president. Since joining the company in 2012, Templeton has served as senior vice president and chief of clinical operations. In the midst of a worsening industry-wide staffing shortage, Templeton was charged with […]

M&A Buyers Scour Hospice Financials for Compliance Risks

Buyers in a hot hospice M&A market are bringing compliance under a microscope as regulators keep a tight watch. All hospice transactions undergo some type of compliance review. But there’s nothing routine about these reviews in today’s current hospice regulatory environment. Combing through a hospice’s referral streams and financial or claims data can help identify […]

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 […]

Is Bereavement Care Going High Tech?

As hospice and palliative care providers seek ways to engage patients and families further upstream, a small but growing cadre of entrepreneurs has been building solutions for needs that emerge downstream — when families are navigating the aftermath of a loved one’s death. Bereaved families must cope not only with grief, but necessary tasks such […]

New Compassus CEO Grams: Workforce and Tech Top of Mind for 2022

Compassus last week announced that David Grams is taking the helm as the company’s new CEO. Grams recently connected with Hospice News to delve deeper into the company’s strategies for navigating an evolving payment landscape, staffing shortages and shifts in the delivery of care during a pandemic. A portfolio company of the private equity firm […]

Compassus Announces New CEO, Leverages Services in Value-Based Care World

Compassus this week had a swivel in its executive leadership, recently announcing that David Grams will be taking the reins as the company’s new CEO. Staffing, quality-driven patient outcomes and payer partnerships will be key areas of focus for the company as it leverages a “full continuum” of care in an evolving value-based payment landscape, […]