Programs that integrate both palliative care and home-based primary care are proving effective at improving patients’ quality of life and reducing health care costs. Combining and coordinating those two forms of care can also allow a palliative care provider to access patients sooner as well as offer a more comprehensive suite of services, according to […]
Home Centered Care Institute
As health care stakeholders work to improve care coordination, more hospices are exploring home-based primary care. Offering those services can help hospice and palliative care providers engage patients further upstream, as well as offer a more comprehensive suite of services to meet their needs, according to Melissa Singleton, chief learning officer at the Home Centered […]
Home-based primary care combined with hospice has led to greater family satisfaction among dying veterans covered by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) in recent years. These results signal potential opportunities for hospice providers looking to engage patients further upstream as they increasingly diversify services in a value-based world. The VA’s home-based primary care […]
More hospices have embraced home-based primary care in recent years. Providers pursuing these opportunities are carefully weighing their options, including whether they should partner with existing practices or offer those services themselves. The gradual move of reimbursement systems to value-based care models is partly fueling a resurgence in home-based primary care, according to a 2018 […]
The Chicago area-based Home Centered Care Institute (HCCI) is developing new educational resources to help hospices and other providers move into the home-based primary care space. Hospices will likely have to step into some form of a primary care role as they seek to capitalize on emerging value-based payment models such as Medicare Advantage or […]
Primary Care First is on its way to opening doors for hospice providers to reach patients and their families further upstream in their health care trajectories. While the implementation of some aspects of the initiative have been delayed, the application period for the program’s second year is underway. Tracking patient outcomes through data and workflow […]
Through the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) forthcoming geographic direct contracting model, participating entities will step into the role of payer as well as provider, including responsibility for program integrity and utilization management. The best opportunity for hospices that wish to be involved would be to establish preferred provider relationships with direct […]
The direct contracting component of the Primary Cares Initiative will allow eligible hospice patients to receive curative treatment while also receiving hospice care. The direct contracting options include three voluntary payment models that are designed to help the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and health care providers reduce the cost of care […]
Paul Chiang, M.D., is a senior medical and practice advisor at the Home Centered Care Institute (HCCI) and medical director for a suburban Chicago practice, Northwestern Medicine HomeCare Physicians (HCP). Chiang has focused on delivering care to medically complex patients in the home, including those on hospice and palliative care. In addition to these professional […]
While hospice providers have leveraged telehealth to support caregivers in the home from a distance during the COVID-19 pandemic, evolving safety measures and concerns about program sustainability have created obstacles. Remaining connected to families and caregivers has been an ongoing challenge as providers work to minimize risk of COVID-19 exposure to vulnerable hospice and palliative […]