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Optima Hospice EHR was built from the ground up just for hospices. Compliance-driven alerts ensure confidence in complete documentation, while RCM services eliminate the burden of managing billing. Chat with a specialist for details.
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Is Pain Part of Dying? How Hospice Providers Can Help Alleviate Family Concerns
Death is the natural end result of life, but that doesn’t make it any easier, especially for the families of hospice patients. While family members may have come to terms with the eventual outcome of hospice care and are confident that staff are doing everything they can to comfort and care for their loved ones, […]
Read MoreChallenge Accepted: Tackling the Top Issues in Hospice and Home Health Care
It’s no exaggeration to say that the pandemic has fundamentally changed hospice and home health care.1 And while some of these changes are a net positive, such as the shift to telehealth and the increased focus on patient-centered care, others pose a significant challenge for providers. With the right approach, however, it’s possible for organizations […]
Read MoreRising Costs, Stagnant Reimbursements: How Home Health Providers Can Navigate the New Normal
Home health costs are on the rise. As noted by Home Health Care News, home health costs rose more than any other provider setting last year. In part, this stems from a growing labor shortage — providers must pay more to retain top-tier staff and recruit new talent.1 Rising costs are also tied to stagnant reimbursements, […]
Read MoreCMS Hosts PDGM National Provider Call
On Wednesday, August 21, CMS hosted a National Provider Call for home health providers titled “Home Health Patient-Driven Groupings Model: Operational Issues.” The presentation discussed PDGM claims submission, new occurrence codes, and several scenarios related to early vs. late timing of 30-day periods and institutional vs. community admissions. Highlights include: Three new occurrence codes for PDGM: 50, […]
Read MorePandemic Positive: The Evolving Impact of Telehealth in Hospice and Home Health Care
When it comes to the pandemic, the word “positive” doesn’t have a great reputation. For hospice and home health providers especially, rising COVID positivity rates and ensuing restrictions created substantial challenges. According to a recent study of pandemic impacts on U.S. hospice agencies, nearly one-third of providers reported negative effects on patient outcomes related to […]
Read MoreHow the Build Back Better Act May Affect Hospices
While President Biden’s Build Back Better (BBB) Act met Senate defeat in December 2021 after an incredibly close vote, there’s still hope that some version of the original may pass later this year. But if that happens, what does it mean for hospice and home health providers? Where does the BBB impact their day-to-day operations […]
Read MoreHospice & Home Health Webinar Talks About Finding Gold in Change and Challenges
If there’s one thing the pandemic has made abundantly clear, it’s that we can never go back to the way things were. For hospice and home health providers, the last two years have seen staff pushed to the brink — and beyond — as they coped with massive stress, minimal resources, and continually-moving restrictions. Technology […]
Read MoreGentle Touch: The Benefits of Massage Therapy for Hospice, Palliative and Home Health Patients
Massage therapy offers benefits beyond the relaxation of muscles and the reduction of stress. Research from palliative care settings found that massage therapy produced a “favorable influence” in managing pain, anxiety, and depression among patients.1 For hospices, massage therapy offers an additional pathway to comprehensive, patient-centered care that treats the entire individual for best results. What […]
Read MoreThe Importance of In-Home Bereavement Support Services for Hospice Care
The death of a loved one is devastating for families. As noted by recent research, a “sizable minority” of family members who lose loved ones in hospice care will experience bereavement-related mental health ailments such as depression or anxiety, while another study points to the significant impacts of parents’ death in hospice or home care […]
Read MoreMind the Gap: How Mindfulness Can Help Hospice Clinicians Reconnect
Stress can be a significant challenge for hospice staff. Recent research found that more than a quarter of hospice caregivers struggled with emotional exhaustion, while 30 percent reported problems with depersonalization.1 It makes sense: The nature of hospice care requires staff to strike a balance between their personal and professional lives, but the effort involved […]
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