Hospice

BATON ROUGE, Lousiana—Amedisys, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMED) reported its financial results for the three and six-month periods which ended June 30, 2023.

Three-Month Periods Ended June 30, 2023 and 2022

WASHINGTON—The National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC), the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO), and NORC at the University of Chicago presented a Congressional briefing on new research that highlights the quality-of-life and cost savings value that the Medicare Hospice Benefit brings to pati

BRENTWOOD, Tennesse—IntellaTriage, a provider of after-hours nurse triage for hospice and home health providers, hospitals, physician groups, health plans and specialty practices, announced the promotion of top sales performer Gio Pagano to senior vice president. Tasked with bringing on new clients and expanding the IntellaTriage impact on the market, IntellaTriage said Pagano exceeded expectations and will continue developing that reach with a growing sales team.

WASHINGTON—The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services' proposed 2024 rule for the home health payment system includes a slew of hospice-specific provisions, many of them designed to reduce fraud and so-called "hospice flipping." Here's a look at what's included, according to the National Association for Homecare and Hospice. 

FRISCO, Texas—Addus HomeCare Corporation (Nasdaq: ADUS), a provider of homecare services, announced a definitive agreement to acquire the entities comprising Tennessee Quality Care, a provider of home health, hospice and private duty nursing services. Tennessee Quality Care serves an average daily census of approximately 1,800 patients through 17 locations covering a service area of more than 50 counties in Tennessee.

DENVER, Colorado—Care Synergy announced Dr. Robert Howe, D.O. has been selected as Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for all hospice, palliative care and home health affiliates across the Care Synergy network. Affiliates include The Denver Hospice (TDH), Peak Hospice in Colorado Springs, Pathways Hospice in Fort Collins and the Colorado Visiting Nurses Association which serves patients across the Front Range. Howe joined the organization last year as Chief Medical Officer for TDH.

MICHIGAN—Aspirus At Home has expanded services in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (U.P.) to give residents of Iron County and the surrounding area greater local access to hospice care.

The service expansion adds hospice care and grief support to the wide range of offerings already provided by Aspirus At Home in the U.P. to meet the needs of patients wherever they are in their health care journey.

DALLAS—Homecare Homebase (HCHB) announced its home-based care software solution is the first to achieve dual verification status from Community Health Accreditation Partner, (CHAP). A non-profit accrediting body for home and community-based health care organizations, CHAP is approved by CMS and is a recognized leader in accreditation for both home health and hospice.

DALLAS, June 12, 2023 – Axxess clients will soon be able to streamline their quality and regulatory compliance workflows through a new partnership with QAPIplus. Axxess said the partnership will ease the burden on clinical and operational teams, enabling higher performance and better outcomes for patients and families.

This story was provided to HomeCare by KFF News.

BOULDER, Colorado—Ilyse Streim views massage for people in hospice care as “whispering to the body through touch.”

“It’s much lighter work. It’s nurturing. It’s slow,” said Streim, a licensed massage therapist.

LARKSPUR, California—By the Bay Health announced the appointment of Skelly Wingard, RN, MSN as chief executive officer for the organization. The appointment, which will be effective June 19, follows a nationwide search for a new leader to fill the role currently held by Kitty Whitaker, who announced her retirement in February of 2022.

BRENTWOOD, Tennesse—Compassus, a national provider of home-based health care services, recently received the first Age-Friendly Care at Home certification for hospice in the country, awarded by Community Health Accreditation Partners. CHAP is a nationally approved accrediting organization that assesses the quality of health care providers.

LAFAYETTE, Louisiana–A federal jury has returned a guilty verdict against Kristal Glover-Wing, 50, of Broussard, Louisiana, for one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and three counts of health care fraud following a trial that lasted nearly four weeks, announced United States Attorney Brandon B. Brown. Dr. Gary M. Wiltz and Dr. Charles H. Louis were each acquitted on their charges in the indictment. Judge Robert R. Summerhays presided over the trial.

Hospice patients will be able to receive concurrent care with Medicare Advantage as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) extended its Value-Based Insurance Design for calendar years 2025 through 2030. The extension also grants health plans the ability to restrict Medicare Advantage Organizations (MAOs) from using out-of-network providers in 2026.

Patients receiving care from for-profit hospices have substantially worse care experiences than patients who receive care from not-for-profit hospices, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

LARKSPUR, California—By the Bay Health CEO Kitty Whitaker has announced plans to retire in the spring of 2023.

Whitaker, a Corte Madera resident, joined the nonprofit organization as a hospice nurse in 1996 (when it was known as Hospice of Marin). Over her 27-year career, she took on various roles in clinical leadership, became chief operating officer and in 2014 was appointed CEO. 

KANSAS CITY, Missouri— Husch Blackwell’s Hospice practice team handled a record number of hospice audits during 2022, part of a surge in audits witnessed by the industry, the company said. Attorneys at Husch Blackwell worked on more than 200 audit matters for hospices throughout 2022, a number the group anticipates will remain steady or potentially increase in the coming year.