VITAS Aligning Staff Retention Efforts with Hospice Mission

Amid industry-wide staff shortages that are expected to worsen in coming years, VITAS Healthcare is leveraging current and prospective employees’ commitments to the hospice mission in efforts to build and retain its workforce, Nicholas Westfall, president and CEO of VITAS Healthcare, said in a second-quarter earnings conference call for parent company Chemed (NYSE: CHE). Hospices […]

OIG Report Includes VITAS ‘Immediate Jeopardy’ Finding

VITAS Healthcare, the nation’s largest hospice provider and a subsidiary of Chemed Corp. (NYSE: CHE), received an “immediate jeopardy” finding from Missouri state surveyors for missing required home visits, insufficient wound care for a patient’s pressure ulcer, and failing to sufficiently manage patients’ pain, according to a state survey findings report obtained by Hospice News. […]

VITAS Expands Florida Operations to Treasure Coast Region

VITAS Healthcare, a hospice subsidiary of Chemed Corp. (NYSE: CHE), has received two certificates of need in Florida, signaling that the company is expanding its operations across a region known as the Treasure Coast. The Miami-based hospice provider will also build a new 16-bed freestanding inpatient facility in southwest Miami-Dade County. In addition to hospice […]

CMS Proposed Rule Could Hurt Small Hospice Providers, Large Companies Unfazed 

National and regional hospice chains seem unfazed by proposed Medicare payment rebasing for fiscal year 2020—confident that the updates will not adversely affect their businesses—though smaller organizations may take a more significant hit. The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in late April released its annual proposed rule that outlines the agency’s regulatory […]

Cornerstone Acquires Resolutions Hospice

Cornerstone Healthcare Inc., a subsidiary of The Ensign Group (NASDAQ: ENSG), as of May 1 acquired the assets of Texas-based Resolutions Hospice for an undisclosed amount. Cornerstone subsidiaries now operate 26 hospice operations, 25 home health operations, and nine other home care operations across 12 states. Prior to this transaction Resolutions Hospice was a family-owned […]

VITAS Margins Solid Despite Admissions Drop

VITAS Healthcare, the largest hospice provider in the United States, showed positive margins for the first quarter of 2019 despite a decline in admissions, according to a quarterly earnings report from its parent company, Chemed Corp. (NYSE: CME). VITAS’ gross margins for routine home care services reached 52.7 percent during the first quarter, a 60 […]

Kreger Becomes VITAS CFO

The nation’s largest provider of hospice services, Miami-based VITAS Healthcare, has named Jeffrey M. Kreger to be its new executive vice president and chief financial officer. VITAS is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chemed Corp (NASDAQ: CHEM), which also owns Roto-Rooter. Kreger comes to the company at a time of strong financial performance. Kreger’s appointment […]

Tech Reshaping Hospice Care

Technology is changing the ways hospice care is delivered. From the evolution of electronic medical records (EMR) to the advent of artificial intelligence (AI), hospice providers are leveraging new systems to create efficiencies, improve patient care, and make their organizations more attractive to investors. Numerous organizations are discovering the value of predictive analytics, telemedicine, and […]

Integrity Home Care + Hospice Expands Footprint to Kansas

Missouri-based Integrity Home Care + Hospice has expanded its hospice and post-acute rehabilitation operations to the Kansas market with the opening of a new location in Fort Scott.   “Families with a loved one facing a serious, life-limiting illness or extensive rehabilitation will want and need to know that quality services are available,” said Amy […]

VITAS and AT&T Exploring Virtual Reality Technology in Hospice Care

VITAS Healthcare, the largest provider of hospice care in the United States, and communications giant AT&T are collaborating to develop alternative therapies using 5G virtual reality systems to reduce chronic pain and anxiety among hospice patients. The companies in January launched a study at a Southern California cancer center to evaluate virtual and augmented reality […]