The nation’s total health care spend is expected to swell by 5.4% annually between 2022 and 2031, reaching $7.1 trillion. Meanwhile, Medicare hospice spending is expected to more than double by 2032. These data from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Office of the Actuary also project that health care expenditures will […]
To a certain extent, hospices will soon be operating under pre-pandemic rules in a “post-COVID” world. With the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) going away on May 11, many of the temporary flexibilities that came with it are expected to end, though Congress did extend some through 2024, including hospice re-certifications via telehealth. The flexibilities […]
More providers are investing in virtual reality (VR) programs as a growing body of research shows that it can ease pain symptoms and improve outcomes for palliative care patients. Virtual reality technology can reduce the use of high-cost pain therapy services and medications, according to Dr. Joseph Shega, executive vice president and chief medical officer […]
The number of hospice volunteers plunged during the first two years of the pandemic, and many are still working to rebuild their ranks. Many hospices saw volunteer volumes dip drastically as they suspended activities during the pandemic. Roughly 78% of hospice and palliative care providers around the globe indicated “less or much less” use of […]
A fourth year into the pandemic, its effects have hospices continuing to combat against financial and operational headwinds, as well as uncertainty about the future of telehealth rules. The COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) is likely to endure past another extension. Currently set to expire Jan. 11, 2023, the U.S. Department of Health & Human […]
Hospices are allocating more financial and operational resources on staffing initiatives than ever before to remain afloat and grow. Recruitment and retention have been top of mind for hospice providers amid ongoing workforce shortages that have only worsened with the pandemic. More than 67% of the 203 hospice care professionals surveyed indicated that staffing would […]
To weather continuous changes in the health care space, nonprofit hospices see an increasing need to work together. A trend is growing in which nonprofits form collaboratives in pursuit of greater efficiency and bargaining power with payers. Most recently, a group of five providers in Georgia and South Carolina formed the Southern Care Collaborative. Collaboration […]
The coronavirus pandemic took a heavy toll on communities across the country as many fell ill and lost loved ones to the deadly disease. Hospices reached deeper into their communities with collaborations to procure and provide resources amid heavy COVID-19 headwinds. To date, COVID-19 has claimed 595,301 lives since the outbreak first hit the United […]
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has authorized an additional $35 payment to incentivize health care providers to bring COVID-19 vaccines to patients who cannot easily leave their homes, including many hospice patients. This amount is in addition to the approximately $40 payment that Medicare currently pays for administration of a vaccine […]
Hospice and palliative care providers are increasingly using virtual reality (VR) to help reduce pain, anxiety and feelings of fear and isolation in patients with chronic conditions. More hospices have incorporated VR into patient care, with the pandemic driving innovative uses for technology. The Elizabeth Hospice began to use VR to reach isolated patients during […]
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