New Directors at Iowa River, Home Health of the Ozarks; C-Suite Shifts at Elara Caring, VIA Health

Home Health of the Ozarks and Hospice of Care Names New Director Missouri-based Texas County Memorial Hospital (TCMH) has appointed Cheryl Maley, registered nurse, as new director of Home Health of the Ozarks and Hospice of Care. Maley joined the hospital system’s home health department in 2012 as a certified nurse assistant, later becoming a […]

Elara Caring Leverages Tech to Achieve 21% Hiring Increase

By implementing new technologies and investing in leadership development programs, Elara Caring boosted its caregiver workforce by 21% during the second quarter. The Dallas-based home-based care provider operates 200 locations in 17 states. Among the strategies driving these gains were initiatives to speed the hiring process. In the second quarter, Elara reduced to nine days […]

Hospices, MA Plan Leverage Data to Align Contract Incentives

As more hospices engage with Medicare Advantage (MA) plans, they may be able to learn from the experiences of some home health providers. Historically, MA has not covered hospice. Now, many operators are contracting with managed care plans for other service lines, such as palliative care, or they may be participating in the hospice component […]

Elara Caring Acquires Assisted Daily Living

Texas-headquartered hospice and home health company Elara Caring has inked a deal to acquire Assisted Daily Living, Inc., a Rhode Island-based provider. The acquisition marks Elara Caring’s entry into the state and is anticipated to close towards the latter part of this year, pending customary regulatory approval. Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed. The […]

How Hospice, Behavioral Health May Cross Paths

Hospice and behavioral health care could increasingly intersect in coming years as demand for specialized care grows. In some respects, the two sectors are already inextricably linked, given the holistic nature of hospice care, including attention to patients’ psychosocial and spiritual needs as well as bereavement support for families. But the prevalence of mental health […]

Large Hospices Bouncing Back from Pandemic Faster Than Small Providers

Trends in market share growth can demonstrate how well hospices were able to recover from the headwinds brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. New data from Trella Health indicate that in many cases large national organizations were able to return to pre-pandemic admission levels faster than smaller companies and nonprofits. Nationally, Amedisys Inc. (NASDAQ: AMED) […]

Moving Health Home Engages Hospice, Palliative Care Providers

Moving Health Home is getting involved in hospice, having expanded to include providers Compassus, Visiting Nurse Service of New York (VNSNY) and the community-based support company Contessa Health. Moving Health Home is a coalition of health care organizations that advocate for the expansion of home-based care. Moving Health Home was established in March by founding members […]

Hospices Work to Reach Underserved LGBTQ+ Communities

The LGBTQ+ community has been among the groups historically underserved by hospice, with mistrust of the health care system at large and provider bias as leading roadblocks to quality end-of-life care. Hospice providers are increasingly working to better understand the LGBTQ+ population and improve access to care. Issues of equity, inclusion and diversity have plagued […]