On August 16, 2017, CMS unveiled the Hospice Compare website to allow consumers to compare hospice providers based on specific quality indicators. Although the hospice industry was initially a bit wary of how Hospice Quality Reporting Program (HQRP) data would translate into meaningful comparative data for consumers, the industry is now realizing that Hospice Compare is rapidly becoming one of the primary influencers for family members when selecting a hospice provider for th

As more government agencies leverage data analysis and tracking to monitor billing in the home health and hospice space, providers are seeing heightened scrutiny across billing practices. From time to time, everyday mistakes in documentation and challenges with compliance can lead to bigger problems—even when providers think they are doing everything right. In 2015, hospice payments reached nearly $16 billion, and its growing clout as a service means that watchdogs are on the

Most physicians end up encountering and caring for terminally ill patients in some capacity as a part of their routine practice. Likewise, most physicians also have been forced to face the aftermath of a death by suicide. It may have been an established patient, a relative or friend of a patient, or, even more tragic – a personal friend or family member. These circumstances always seem to have a sudden painful recourse, often with so many unanswered questions: so many “whatif

November is National Hospice and Palliative Care Month, and the 2018 theme of “My Hospice” offers an important opportunity to examine the state of hospice in the U.S., and the challenges and opportunities that hospices face amid a national movement to expand palliative care. The emergence of community-based palliative care models that nobly strive to make palliative care accessible further upstream has had an impact on hospice in several ways, experts say. Many hospices are e