Inside AccentCare’s New, Centralized Approach to Bereavement Care  

After five years of planning, the post-acute services provider AccentCare recently re-organized its bereavement care services, which are now coordinated from a national center. This centralization was designed to ensure consistency in its grief care operations and to ensure comparable quality across the company’s national footprint, Yelena Zatulovsky, vice-president of patient experience for AccentCare, said […]

Palliative Care the Next Generation: How the Service May Grow and Evolve

Based on current trends, risk-based payment systems will likely shape the future of palliative care. The palliative care market is projected to swell during the next decade. However, no standardized definition exists for “palliative care.” Providers use a range of approaches to providing the service, from consults with advance care planning to short-term transitional care […]

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 […]

Understanding Policymakers’ Frame of Reference Crucial to Hospice, Palliative Care Advocacy

Axxess founder and CEO John Olajide discovered a passion for both business and technology at an early age, and in time, saw opportunities to leverage those interests to help modernize health care. Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Olajide’s first job involved handling money for his family’s wholesale and retail distribution business. Consequently, matters of management and […]

Why Skilled Nursing, Assisted Living Operators Invest in Home-Based Hospice Programs

Offering hospice can be a game changer for skilled nursing and assisted living operators looking to stand out from competitors and improve patient reach.  Home-based care, including hospice, has become an increasingly attractive space for facility-based health care providers of all walks. Assisted living and skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) have been joining the mix, taking […]

Hospice M&A ‘Historically Strong’ Despite Recent Cool Down

Though investors and strategic buyers didn’t wade quite as deep into the hospice market in 2022 compared to years prior, the tide may be rising for M&A during 2023. Though hospice M&A activity fluctuated last year, volume is expected to rebound, but probably with larger numbers of smaller deals. Swelling demand for hospice and home […]

How ‘Responsiveness’ Became a Watchword for Prospero’s Growing Palliative Care Business

Prospero Health has leveraged education and responsiveness to grow its palliative care business. The Tennessee-based home-based care company provides interdisciplinary services to 30,000 seniors with complex health needs in 28 states. That’s up from 1,700 patients in three states as of January 2020. Underpinning that growth is a track record of reducing hospitalizations and emergency […]

Bristol Hospice Appoints Alex Mauricio as New CEO

Alex Mauricio, president and chief strategy officer for Bristol Hospice, has taken the helm as CEO. He succeeds the company’s former top executive, Hyrum Kirton, who has transitioned to the board of directors. Mauricio became CEO effective Feb. 1, and he will remain the company’s president. Salt Lake City-based Bristol Hospice, a portfolio company of […]

Hosparus Applies for PACE License, Expands Hospital Partnerships

Kentucky-based Hosparus Health is poised for expansion — through joint ventures, new investments in its palliative care program and the forthcoming launch of a PACE center. The nonprofit hospice provider’s subsidiary — Care Guide Partners — has applied to the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for a PACE license, according to CEO […]