Executive Shifts at Amedisys, AMOREM, VITAS; Compassus, Hospice of the Chesapeake Appoint New Clinical Leaders

Amedisys’ New Chief Accounting Officer The forthcoming acquisition of Amedisys, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMED) by UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) subsidiary Optum has sparked executive shifts. The home health and hospice provider recently announced the leadership changes in a filing with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC). Allyson Guidroz was recently appointed as its chief accounting […]

Providers to Lawmakers: Hospice a ‘Huge Value to Medicare’

Rising regulatory scrutiny around length of stay may be having adverse impacts on health care costs and quality, hospice leaders said in a recent Congressional briefing. Fear of regulatory attention, audits or post-payment reviews related to longer stays could drive some hospice providers to discharge patients who can still benefit from their services, according to […]

VITAS Sees Census, Workforce Rebound Amid Lingering Headwinds

Workforce and patient census are rebounding for the Chemed Corp. (NYSE: CHE) subsidiary VITAS Healthcare, but financial pressure points remain. The gains have come with significant effort and costs, including the roll out of its recruitment and retention bonus program last July. Since then, the hospice provider has seen sequential improvements during the last four […]

Hospices Gear Up to Reach More Heart Failure Patients, Enhance Quality 

The incidence of end-stage heart failure is expected to rise throughout the next decade, and hospices are preparing to serve those patients when they become eligible. The number of people who suffer from heart failure is expected to rise by 46% between 2012 and 2023, the American Heart Association (AHA) reported. However, hospice utilization remains […]

VITAS Opens New Hospice House in California

VITAS Healthcare, a subsidiary of Chemed Corp. (NYSE: CHE), has opened its first hospice house in Orange County, California, currently the only such facility in that region. The inpatient facility began accepting referrals on Monday, June 26, and the company expects it to serve more than 300 seriously ill patients annually. “There has been a […]

Where Hospices Are Seeing the Greatest ROI on Staffing Investments

Amid persistent workforce shortages, sign-on and employee referral bonuses, as well as enhanced benefits, are bearing the most fruit for hospice providers. Though many providers are reporting upward trends when it comes to recruitment and retention, some clinical and administrative vacancies remain pain points. Filling gaps in the hospice workforce has come with hefty financial […]

Study: Asian Americans Most Open to Receive Emotional Support Near End of Life, Less Likely to Have Advance Care Plan

Though older Asian-American adults may be less likely to discuss pain and symptom management needs with their health care professionals, they may be more receptive to the psychosocial support included in hospice and palliative care, according to recent research from VITAS’ Healthcare. About 63% of Asians indicated that they would want to receive emotional support […]

Bonus Program Propels Capacity Gains as VITAS Moves Towards Post-Pandemic Rebound

Investments in their workforce have spurred VITAS Healthcare forward on the road to pre-pandemic financial and clinical performance. Like many providers, VITAS has traversed some rough terrain since the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020. A rash of industry-wide headwinds compressed margins and depressed revenue, including spiking supply and labor costs, reduced referrals and length of […]

Burnout Brings Hospice Nurses to an ‘Urgent Crossroad’

Recent data may give hospice providers deeper insight around the driving forces of nursing shortages. Hospices may see a mass exodus of registered nurses in coming years, particularly younger, newer and less experienced nurses experiencing pandemic-related burnout, according to an analysis from the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN). Nearly 900,000 of the […]

The Changing Role of Hospice CFOs

As health care has changed, so has the role of hospices’ financial leadership. Hospice CFOs have had to retool during the past few years due to the influence of the pandemic, growing technology investments and the need to do more with less amid widespread inflation and labor pressures. These dynamics have forced many CFOs to […]