Hospice, Dementia, and Quality of Life. Now We Know.
In 1983, Medicare first designed the hospice benefit around the needs of people with cancer. Over the years, hospice increasingly…
What Hospice Pays For
Without proper support, the time in which families need hospice can be stressful, with multiple unusual challenges that will need…
Opioids May Improve Survival for Hospice Patients
It is well established that hospice correlates with survival improved by days to months among the subset of patients who…
Medicare Gives Hospice a Larger Pay Raise than Expected, but Less than Needed
On July 27, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a final rule giving hospice a 3.8% pay…
End-of-Life Discussions: Does Revealing a Bad Prognosis Rob a Patient of Hope?
Modern healthcare practices informed patient involvement in decision making. Nevertheless, the debate about whether to discuss life expectancy (or prognosis)…
How Much Does Hospice Reduce Direct Healthcare Spending by Families?
The Journal of the American Medical Association recently published a first-of-its kind study quantifying the healthcare cost reductions families realize…
The Labor Market Strains Hospice Care
It recently became 15% harder to access hospice care. This stems from a combination of Medicare compensation policies and the…
Should Hospice Rules Change for People with Dementia?
Helping the families of people with dementia is a major part of hospice care, but are hospice agencies being scrutinized…
What Does Hospice Use Look Like in America Today?
While the roots of hospice date back centuries, the American hospice industry began in full in 1982 when the federal…
How Can a Person Become Disqualified for Hospice?
You may have heard that a friend or family member was in hospice but discharged for no longer qualifying. How…
