ADVOCATING FOR CHANGE, TRANSPARENCY TO ENSURE QUALITY HOSPICE CARE FOR ALL Providing all terminally ill patients with compassionate, quality care at the end of life was the vision of Dame Saunders and is the commitment not-for-profit hospices have made to…
RESEARCH FINDINGS ON PATIENT CARE QUALITY Less Training for Hospice Care Providers Other tactics for reducing expenditures at the for-profit hospices, according to the research, included hiring fewer professionally trained staff members, recruiting new graduates who would work for lower…
RESEARCH FINDINGS ON PATIENT CARE QUALITY Recruiting healthier patients Research studies by The Washington Post, the federal government and other organizations indicate that some for-profit hospices are enrolling patients who are not terminal.14 This allows these hospices to collect the…
RESEARCH FINDINGS ON PATIENT CARE QUALITY The Live-Discharge Rate According to The Washington Post, which has published an extensive series of investigative reports under the title, “The Business of Dying,” more than one in three patients are being discharged from…
TIME TO EDUCATE, ADVOCATE AND ACT TO PRESERVE THE LEGACY OF HOSPICE Click on the image or the PDF to download the white paper. Hospice patients are among the most vulnerable in healthcare today. As they face the end of…
CONCLUSION While this paper is not specifically about ownership status of the nation’s 5,000 Medicare-certified hospices, many of the markers used to evaluate the quality and cost effectiveness of hospice ultimately demonstrate the divide between how for-profit and not-for-profit hospices…
THE THREAT TO THE MEDICARE HOSPICE BENEFIT When the Medicare Hospice Benefit initially was established, Congress noted several reservations, including cost-efficiency, fair and equitable reimbursements, and adequate financing.10 These concerns still influence ongoing support for the Medicare Hospice Benefit and are…
THE THREAT TO THE HOSPICE COMMUNITY The dying process is uncertain and unpredictable. In caring for dying patients, hospices may spend more than the per diem rate to meet the needs of some patients experiencing a spike in pain and…
FINANCIAL MANIPULATION, LIMITING CARE AND SERVICES TO MAXIMIZE REVENUE The unique structure of the Medicare Hospice Benefit, an all-inclusive benefit that reimburses providers on a per diem basis, has created the opportunity for exploitation through a number of profiteering practices.…
IS IT TIME TO DISRUPT THE MEDICARE HOSPICE BENEFIT TO PRESERVE THE LEGACY OF HOSPICE? Click on the image or the PDF to download the white paper. Congress approved the Medicare Hospice Benefit in 1981 to create an alternative to…