How 3 Home-Based Care Companies Leverage Clinical, Data and Product Power

Home-based care companies can measure their prowess by examining three critical factors — clinical power, data power and product power. Compassus, BrightStar Care and Empath Health all have a range of initiatives and achievements that are relevant to these areas, which leaders within the three organizations delved into during a panel discussion at the recent […]

3 Key Hospice Technology Trends

Hospices see improved quality and operational efficiency as their biggest return on technology investments in three key areas. But several unknowns and challenges exist in the journey to deeper technology integration. Today’s hospice leaders need a firm understanding of the varying and rapidly changing advances in technology that can impact their business lines and ability […]

The ‘Paradigm Shift’ of Hospice Service Diversification

Some hospices have delved deeper into service diversification to improve timely access and expand their patient reach, while others remain focused on end-of-life care delivery. The decision to launch into new service realms can come with a range of operational and reimbursement questions. Among the keys to diversifying services is establishing a business infrastructure that […]

Several Large Hospice Providers See Leadership Transitions

New executives have stepped into c-suite and other roles at some of the nation’s largest hospice organizations as 2025 kicks off. Empath Health’s First Chief Philanthropy Officer Empath Health has announced that Deborah Johnson will become its first chief philanthropy officer. Johnson will oversee the work of Empath’s several foundations — Suncoast Hospice Foundation, Tidewell […]

Shoring Up the Next Generation of Hospice Chaplains

Hospice chaplains often have little recourse for upward mobility along their career ladders. This can make recruitment and retention difficult among the next generation of the spiritual care workforce. More professionals from a wider range of interfaith groups are entering the field, according to Shana Sullivan, bereavement coordinator of Texas-based Heart to Heart Hospice. Sullivan […]

How Empath Health Achieves Growth by Taking on Risk

The Florida-based nonprofit hospice and senior care provider Empath Health has been steadily expanding its footprint as well as its service lines. The company has pursued de novos, acquisitions and has built new programs from scratch as it works to achieve what Empath calls “full-life care” — a full continuum of services to support seniors […]

Top Hospice Trends to Watch in 2025

Hospice leaders will need to keep their eyes on five key trends in the new year when it comes to compliance, business operations and finance. Coupled with these trends is rising utilization. Hospice utilization reached 51.7% among Medicare decedents in 2023, up more than two percentage points from the prior year, according to recent data […]

The Most Significant Palliative Care Research Trends in 2024

Palliative care has been at the forefront of several research efforts in 2024, with findings increasingly pointing to the value proposition of these services when it comes to cost savings and quality. Data has become a crucial component of understanding both unmet patient needs and where to fuel resources that address them, Empath Health President […]

The ISNP Opportunity for Hospice Providers

Hospice providers can collaborate with institutional special needs Medicare Advantage plans (ISNP) to reach patients who reside in long-term care facilities. ISNPs restrict enrollment to MA eligible individuals who, for 90 days or longer, have had or are expected to need the level of services provided in a long-term care (LTC), skilled nursing facility, a […]