Hospice News’ Top 10 Stories of 2022

In 2022, the hospice community laid the groundwork for a transformational 2023. This year saw industry-changing acquisitions, some of the worst labor headwinds to date, the return of sequestration and a sometimes volatile national economy. During late 2021 and 2022, the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) developed new approaches for enforcing hospice […]

Social Workers Leaving Hospice, Health Care in Record Numbers

Hospices have lost social worker employees at a faster rate than any health care setting in the care continuum.  Social workers have left the health care field at record-high rates during the pandemic, according to data from the Peterson-Kaiser Family Foundation Health System Tracker. As of October 2021, attrition rates exceeded pre-pandemic levels by 35%. […]

Pandemic Creates Push for Increased Hospice Caregiver Respite

A national study of hospice social workers indicated that the coronavirus pandemic has led to challenges of isolation, barriers to communication, and issues related to grieving among patients and the caregivers who support them. As hospice providers absorb the lessons of COVID-19, these issues have illuminated a growing need to allow in-home respite care, with […]

Health Care Groups Urge Lawmakers to Relax Prior Authorization Rules

A group of 370 health care industry groups — including the American Academy of Hospice & Palliative Medicine, the American Medical Association and National Association of Social Workers — have signed a letter sent to Congress encouraging legislators to pass the Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act of 2019. If enacted, the legislation would […]