Palliative care packs a small but meaningful punch in the value-based payment arena. But to successfully negotiate value-based contracts, hospices will need to educate payers about the value of palliative care, according to J. Cameron Muir, M.D., chief innovation officer of the National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI). Specifically, providers can help orient […]
Demand for mental health care skyrocketed during the pandemic. This growing need has spurred the National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI) to recently develop its Community Counseling Guide to help member providers structure bereavement services, including best practices for billing. Adults nationwide have experienced increased levels of stress, anxiety and depression since COVID-19’s […]
In an evolving payment and regulatory environment, hospices would benefit from stepping up their engagement with federal, state and local agencies and legislators. This may be particularly urgent now, with the public comment period still open on the 2023 proposed payment rule, and as policymakers debate whether COVID-related waivers and assistance should end. Federal agencies […]
A wide breadth of tactics, strategies and initiatives have sprung up in recent years as more hospices seek to foster diversity among patients and staff. Improving equity and access to end-of-life and serious illness care has been a tough course for many providers to navigate, and creating lasting change will require cultural and organizational shifts, […]
Medicare between 2010 and 2019 paid a total $6.6 billion to non-hospice providers for services provided to hospice beneficiaries, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office of the Inspector General (OIG). While hospices themselves do not bill Medicare for the non-hospice services, OIG recommended that CMS study […]
Hospice advocates have called on the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to establish a Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) code for chaplain services, as well as a code for telehealth visits. Four organizations sent a letter to CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, including the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC), the […]
Tom Koutsoumpas, president and CEO of Capital Caring Health, has worked in the hospice field since the beginning. He advocated in the 1970s and 80s for the establishment of the Medicare Hospice Benefit, which now covers about 98% of the hospice care provided in the United States. In addition to his work as a provider, […]
U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska.) have re-introduced a bill designed to bolster the palliative care workforce. The Provider Training in Palliative Care Act would clear the way for members of the National Health Service Corps to defer their service for as long as one year to pursue additional training in palliative […]
The National Partnership for Hospice Innovation (NPHI) has called on U.S. congressional leaders to pursue legislation that would further extend the moratorium on Medicare sequestration during the COVID-19 public health emergency. The suspension is currently slated to expire Dec. 31. Medicare sequestration was established in 2014 by the Budget Control Act. The practice reduced payments […]
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to light the serious implications of loneliness and isolation for patients with serious or terminal illness, including early mortality, pain sensitivity, psychosocial well being and other factors. While widespread vaccination is giving providers better access to patients, many are realizing that efforts to address these aspects of patient care should […]
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