Literature Review
All posts tagged with “Hospice Provider News | Operations News.”
How Health Equity Payment Models Are Impacting Hospice Staff Diversity
12/10/23 at 04:00 AMHow Health Equity Payment Models Are Impacting Hospice Staff DiversityHospice NewsDecember 8, 2023Recent health equity initiatives in hospice reimbursement may reverberate impacts into providers’ staff recruitment and retention strategies, particularly when it comes to leadership roles. ... While equity-focused reimbursement channels like ACO REACH hold promise in helping to reduce disparities, unknowns exist around how providers should shape their care delivery approaches and where to pour operational and financial resources, according to Hospice of Acadiana CEO Keith Everett. ... A key for hospices to understand about health equity payment programs is that strategies to improve disparities can come in a variety of ways, which can be both a challenge and opportunity for providers, Everett said. ... One area of focus is to grow a more diverse employee base—not just in terms of interdisciplinary staff who interact with patients and families, but also among leadership teams, according to André Lee, co-founder and administrator of Heart ‘n Soul Hospice. ... Community collaborations are key to knowing where to search for hospice professionals from diverse backgrounds, according to Agrace Hospice & Supportive Care CEO Lynne Sexten.
Hospitals Think Some Dead Patients Are Alive
12/09/23 at 04:00 AMHospitals Think Some Dead Patients Are AliveBloombergDecember 7, 2023Neil Wenger, a professor of medicine at UCLA, was researching different ways of encouraging patients to make end-of-life care plans when he discovered something troubling—hundreds of patients who were seriously ill, according to the health system’s records, were actually dead. This is a well-known but little-studied phenomenon, according to Wenger—until now. Wenger and his colleagues wrote up their findings in a short paper that was published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine. They identified 676 patients from UCLA’s health system that were recorded as alive, but were actually dead, according to state data. At face value, it sounds absurd. But there are many reasons why it might happen, Wenger says. While patients who die in the hospital are automatically recorded as deceased in that system’s database, patients who die at home are not. Same goes for patients who die at another health system with a different electronic records database. “The health system continues to act as if they’re alive,” Wenger says. “If we don’t know they’re dead, we can’t do the right thing.” ... “We think this is a really important finding that needs to be corrected,” Wenger says.
How the Hospice Care Index Can Help Shape an Operator’s Future
12/09/23 at 04:00 AMHow the Hospice Care Index Can Help Shape an Operator’s FutureHospice NewsDecember 7, 2023Strong performance on the Hospice Care Index is becoming increasingly essential to securing payer and referral contracts and will be a key consideration in the federal government’s forthcoming Special Focus Program. ... Health care consumers are also becoming more aware of these data. ... HCI data will be a key component of the algorithm that CMS will use to determine which hospices qualify for the SFP, coming in 2024. CMS plans to target hospices who fall within the lowest 10% of performers on a range of quality metrics and survey data.
South Hill hospital to cease in-home hospice, home health services Dec. 31
12/08/23 at 03:59 AMSouth Hill hospital to cease in-home hospice, home health services Dec. 31News & Record (South Boston, VA)December 6, 2023South Hill, VA—VCU Health Community Memorial Hospital in South Hill will no longer provide in-home community health and hospice services starting Dec. 31, hospital officials announced Monday. ... Kristy Fowler, marketing and communications specialist for VCU Health CMH, said the hospital will continue to provide these services on “an inpatient and outpatient basis, [but] they will no longer be available in the home.” ... Fowler explained that home health and hospice services declined throughout the pandemic and are no longer part of VCU Health CMH’s core business.
National HME Acquires Hospice Source
12/07/23 at 04:00 AMNational HME Acquires Hospice SourceBusiness WireDecember 5, 2023Irving, TX—National HME, a leading provider of durable medical equipment solutions and services to hospice and alternate sites of care, today announced that it has acquired Hospice Source, a provider of medical equipment to hospice patients and facilities.
Chris Comeaux, nationally recognized Hospice leader, announces the release of first leadership book.
12/01/23 at 04:00 AMChris Comeaux, nationally recognized Hospice leader, announces the release of first leadership book.