Trauma-Informed Spiritual Care Vital for Dying Veterans
Hospices are urged to adopt trauma‑informed, military‑culture‑aware spiritual care models to better serve dying veterans, according to Darrell Robinson of SpirituWell and Emory Healthcare. Recent studies reveal veterans often experience moral injury, survivor’s guilt, and unaddressed combat‑related trauma that resurfacing at end of life. Chaplains trained in these areas can recognize spiritual distress and facilitate meaningful conversations. Building partnerships with the VA and veteran organizations is essential for delivering continuous, culturally competent spiritual support.
Stillwater to Acquire Campbell County Health Hospice
Montana‑based Stillwater Hospice announced it will acquire Campbell County Health Hospice (CCH) in Gillette, Wyoming, effective June 1. The deal, terms undisclosed, will keep CCH’s staff and services intact while giving the provider access to Stillwater’s larger clinical resources and regional...
‘Moving the Mindset’ of Equitable Hospice Access
Hospice providers are confronting persistent health‑equity gaps, with workforce shortages, economic strain and outdated Medicare reimbursement structures hampering progress. Dr. Kimberly Curseen of AAHPM highlighted the need for dedicated equity resources and structured community outreach to identify unmet needs. Racial...
The Pennant Group Seeks Deals Amid Amedisys-UnitedHealth Group Asset Integration
The Pennant Group completed a $146.5 million acquisition of 54 hospice and home‑health sites across Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia, previously owned by Amedisys and UnitedHealth Group. Integration is proceeding in a five‑wave plan, with two waves already transitioned and the remaining...
Technology, Collaboration Pivotal to Speedy Hospice Admissions
Hospice providers are scrambling to speed up admissions as demand surges and staffing gaps widen. Catholic Hospice, part of Catholic Health Services in South Florida, highlighted how AI from 1520ai and data‑driven analytics are trimming documentation errors and accelerating patient...
Ohio’s Hospice CEO: Prepare for Value-Based Care
Kent Anderson, CEO of Ohio’s Hospice, warned that value‑based care will soon reach the hospice sector and urged providers to prepare. He emphasized that scale—both economies of scale and skill—will be critical, citing the network’s eight nonprofit members, nearly one...
AI Innovation Series 2026 — Suzanne Paysinger, Executive Director, Hospice of Limestone County
In a MatrixCare‑sponsored interview, Suzanne Paysinger, executive director of Hospice of Limestone County, outlines practical AI use cases for hospice teams. She highlights AI‑driven equipment troubleshooting, predictive analytics for symptom and family‑support needs, and real‑time communication flags across interdisciplinary teams....
Wearable Technology Impacts Hospice Staff Safety, Satisfaction
Wearable safety devices are gaining traction among home‑based hospice staff, who confront heightened physical and psychosocial risks. Silent Beacon, founded in 2016, offers a wearable with a panic button, location tracking, and instant communication to streamline emergency response. Research cited...
DOJ Forms Health Care Fraud Strike Force
The U.S. Department of Justice has launched the West Coast Health Care Fraud Strike Force, a multi‑district initiative that brings together the DOJ’s Health Care Fraud Section, the U.S. Attorney’s Offices in Arizona, Nevada and Northern California, the FBI, the...
BrightSpring Aims for Organic Growth Following Amedisys Location Acquisitions
BrightSpring Health Services posted a strong first quarter, with consolidated revenue of $3.64 billion, a 25.6% year‑over‑year increase. The provider services segment, which includes home health and hospice, grew 28% to $422 million, and daily patient census rose 52% to 46,056....
Volunteer Compliance Supports Hospices’ Sustainable Growth
Hospice providers must meet Medicare’s 5% volunteer‑care requirement, prompting a focus on recruitment, retention, and precise hour tracking. Leaders like Jennifer Scurry and Wade Udelhoven stress that strong volunteer coordinators and community partnerships are essential to compliance. Emerging volunteer roles, such...
Hospice Scammer Receives 2-Year Prison Sentence
Alex Alexsanian, 48, received a 27‑month federal prison term for orchestrating a $14 million Medicare fraud scheme involving bogus hospice and diagnostic imaging services. He also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering and was ordered to forfeit $3 million. The...
Federal Court Mulls Psychedelics Access for Homebound, Terminally Ill
A federal district court in Oregon has allowed a lawsuit challenging the state's Psilocybin Services Act to move forward. The suit, filed by licensed facilitators, claims the law’s requirement that psilocybin be administered only in licensed service centers violates the...
1520ai Acquires Hospice Analytics
1520ai, a self‑funded hospice‑focused AI startup, has acquired data‑analytics firm Hospice Analytics. The deal, terms undisclosed, brings a 20‑year‑old provider of market and utilization insights under 1520ai’s umbrella while retaining the Hospice Analytics brand and its founder Cordt Kassner as...
NPHI Execs: Quality Is Hospices’ Differentiator
At its annual Chicago summit, NPHI CEO Tom Koutsoumpas and President Carole Fisher argued that quality—beyond regulatory metrics—is the key differentiator for nonprofit hospices. NPHI’s Innovation Lab has launched quality dashboards that capture “Measures that Matter,” such as live discharges,...
Empassion, Karoo Health Partner on Cardiac-to-Hospice Transitions
Empassion Health and Karoo Health announced a strategic partnership to smooth the transition from cardiac management to palliative and hospice care. The collaboration addresses the “gap” where patients with advanced heart disease are not yet eligible for hospice but traditional...
AI Innovation Series 2026 — Daniel Zhu, VP of Product Management, Data and AI/ML, MatrixCare
In an AI Innovation Series interview, MatrixCare’s VP of Product Management Daniel Zhu outlines how artificial intelligence can personalize hospice care at scale, act as an early‑warning companion for pain, symptom and caregiver‑stress changes, and alleviate clinicians’ documentation burden. He...
AI Innovation Series 2026 — Sarah Williams, Director of Administrative Services, Hospice in the Pines
Hospice in the Pines’ director Sarah Williams discussed how AI can act as an assistant, automating documentation and surfacing clinical patterns so clinicians spend more time at the bedside. She emphasized AI’s role in predictive analytics for pain, symptom changes, and...
VITAS Banks on Length of Stay, Referral Mix Management
VITAS Healthcare eliminated its Medicare cap liability in Florida by shifting admissions toward hospital referrals, which generate shorter stays. In Q1 2026 the company posted $420 million in revenue, a 3.1% year‑over‑year increase, with admissions up 6.9% and average daily census...
Elevate Podcast: Dr. Shoshana Ungerleider, Founder, End Well Project
The latest Elevate podcast episode features Dr. Shoshana Ungerleider, founder of the End Well Project, discussing how movies, television and broader pop culture shape public perceptions of end‑of‑life care. The conversation explores the ways media influence patient and family expectations,...
Chapters Health Unveils New Pediatric Hospice Program
Chapters Health System, one of the nation’s largest nonprofit hospice networks, has launched Chapters Kids, a pediatric hospice and palliative‑care program serving more than 300 seriously ill children across eight states. The model provides concurrent hospice, letting patients continue curative...
Voices: Brittney Jaskowiak, SVP, Client Success, Dragonfly Health
Dragonfly Health is positioning its integrated DME‑and‑pharmacy platform as a strategic solution for hospice providers facing mounting pressure to improve visibility, cut operational friction, and leverage utilization data. By unifying two of hospice’s largest cost centers under a single, technology‑driven...
Earlier Hospice Election Could Save Medicare $1.5B Yearly
Medicare could save between $1.19 billion and $1.5 billion annually if eligible beneficiaries elected hospice five days earlier, according to a new analysis by the Research Institute for Home Care and ATI Advisory. The study examined beneficiaries who entered hospice within eight...
New Waves of Hospice Executives Take the Lead
A series of senior‑level appointments are reshaping hospice leadership across the United States. Becky Tooker becomes president of Hosparus Health, bringing 25 years of hospice and home‑health expertise. Bristol Hospice adds three regional executives—Valerie Meyer, Marriza Negrete and Jason Hill—to manage...
‘Turning Points’ in Successful Hospice Quality Improvement
Hospice providers are grappling with heightened regulatory scrutiny, staffing shortages, and rising patient acuity. Treasure Coast Hospice, part of Treasure Health, recently earned a five‑star quality rating by emphasizing coordinated staffing, compliance, and patient‑centered care. Chief Clinical Officer Jennifer Creel...
House Bill Would Allow Hospice Patients to Receive Dialysis
U.S. Representatives Mike Kelly and Suzan DelBene introduced the Concurrent Care for Comfort Act, a bipartisan bill that would let hospice patients continue dialysis under Medicare. The legislation clarifies coverage and creates separate reimbursement for palliative dialysis provided by qualified...
UnitedHealth Group Investing Billions in AI
UnitedHealth Group announced a $1.5 billion investment in artificial intelligence to modernize its internal operations and launch commercial AI products. The spend targets member and patient engagement tools, workflow automation, and productivity gains across its health‑care and insurance divisions. In Q1...
Hospice Fraud a ‘Terrifying’ Beneficiary Protection Issue
U.S. lawmakers highlighted a surge in hospice and home‑health fraud, with California, Arizona, Nevada, Texas, Georgia and Ohio flagged as hotspots. In Los Angeles County, provider numbers jumped 1,500% since 2010, leading to at least $105 million in Medicare overbilling and...
Education Creates Inroads for Concurrent Pediatric Care
At the ELEVATE conference, hospice leaders highlighted that many clinicians still lack awareness of concurrent hospice and palliative care for seriously ill children, a model that allows curative treatment to continue alongside hospice services. They argued that targeted education and...
Oregon Passes Bill to Support Medical Cannabis Among Hospice Patients
Oregon enacted Ryan’s Law, mandating hospice, residential and palliative care providers to permit qualified patients to use medical cannabis and to establish safety policies and staff training. The bill adds hospice and end‑of‑life care as a new qualifying condition for...
Suncoast Hospice Co-Founder Mary Jean Etten Passes Away
Mary Jean Etten, co‑founder of Suncoast Hospice, died on April 17. The hospice, established in 1976, became part of Empath Health after a 2015 reorganization and a 2020 merger with Stratum Health. Etten spent 33 years teaching nursing, thanatology and...
Hospices’ Top Questions About AI
Hospice providers are rapidly adopting AI to streamline operations and support clinical decisions, with 36% naming predictive analytics as their top technology investment for 2026. The rollout spans functions from scheduling and documentation to medication management and family communication. However,...
AI Documentation Seen as a ‘Competitive Advantage’ in Hospice Regulatory Labyrinth
Hospices are turning to artificial‑intelligence documentation platforms to ease staffing shortages and meet mounting Medicare audit demands. Dr. Brian Haas, national medical director at Ascend Hospice, argues that precise, rapid documentation will become a measurable competitive advantage. While AI can...
Anti-Fraud Task Force Suspends 447 Hospices
A federal anti‑fraud task force led by Vice President J.D. Vance has suspended 447 hospice providers and 23 home‑health agencies in the Los Angeles area over alleged fraud totaling roughly $600 million. The coalition, created by the White House in March,...
Enhanced Hospice Oversight Creates ‘Drastic, Domino’ Effect
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has broadened its Provisional Periods of Enhanced Oversight (PPEO) to include Georgia and Ohio, adding to the original four fraud‑hotspot states. As of June 2025, CMS revoked billing privileges for 122 hospices...
St. Croix Hospice CCO: Transparency, Compliance Fosters Growth
St. Croix Hospice has appointed Tami Johnson-White as its chief compliance officer, bringing three decades of health‑care leadership, including recent CCO work at Guardian Healthcare. She says her top priorities are building transparent, partnership‑based compliance, supporting the organization’s growth across...
HFA Launches New End-of-Life Dementia Care Training
The Hospice Foundation of America (HFA) has launched a new educational program, Best Practices in Hospice Care for Advanced Dementia, to help hospice and palliative teams address the complex needs of patients with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. The curriculum...
Tuesday Health Partners with Humana on Palliative Care
Tuesday Health, a 2023 startup backed by Valtruis and Mass General Brigham Ventures, has partnered with Humana to launch a value‑based palliative‑care program for Texas members on June 1. The initiative offers coordinated clinical guidance, proactive symptom management and continuous support...
Hospice Volunteerism Nears ‘Age of AI’
Hospices are turning to artificial intelligence to boost volunteer recruitment and retention. AI can match volunteers to patients, streamline workflows, and help meet the Medicare mandate that volunteers provide at least 5% of hospice patient‑care hours. Executives from Angel Hands,...
Bridging Access Gaps in Pediatric Palliative Care
Community- and person‑centered models are gaining traction as a way to close access gaps in pediatric palliative care. Leaders from the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine highlight that children in rural, suburban and urban settings face distinct barriers,...
State Associations Urge CMS to Forgo Potential National Hospice Enrollment Moratorium
A coalition of state hospice associations—including Florida, North Carolina, and South Carolina—has written to CMS urging it to reject a proposed national moratorium on new hospice provider enrollments. They argue that a blanket freeze would restrict legitimate hospice growth in...
AI Grief Bots Present ‘New Complexities’ in Bereavement Care
Artificial intelligence is entering bereavement care through "grief bots" that recreate a deceased loved one’s voice, likeness, and mannerisms from audio, video, texts and social‑media data. Companies such as Hereafter.ai, You, Only Virtual, StoryFile and Uare.ai are already offering interactive...
Improving Quality for Gender-Diverse Hospice Patients
At the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine’s annual assembly, clinicians highlighted systemic barriers that prevent transgender and gender‑diverse patients from receiving goal‑concordant end‑of‑life care. Gaps in electronic medical records, billing codes, and staff training leave gender identity information...
Families Face Identity Theft Following a Death
Families of deceased Americans face a growing risk of identity theft as unclosed digital accounts become vulnerable. The California Department of Justice estimates 2.5 million dead individuals have their identities stolen each year, with 800,000 cases directly targeted because the owners...
Empath Health, Trustbridge Solidify Affiliation
Empath Health and Trustbridge have completed a two‑year affiliation, creating Empath Trustbridge Hospice, which now cares for roughly one‑in‑five hospice patients daily in Florida. The merged nonprofit combines the reach of multiple hospice foundations, serving over 100,000 patients across a...
Patient Spreads Word About Hospice En Route to the Stars
Pam Harter, a hospice patient in Napa, California, is campaigning to become the first hospice patient in space while using her journey to highlight the benefits of hospice care. Diagnosed with the rare genetic disorder pseudoxanthoma elasticum, she entered hospice...
Strategies for Hospices Supporting Family Caregivers
Family caregiving in the United States has surged to 63 million adults, a 45% increase since 2015, placing unprecedented strain on hospice providers. End‑of‑life caregivers average 20 hours of support per week, juggling medical, logistical, and emotional duties. Hospices are responding by...
Kara Health Builds JV With Loma Linda University Health
Kara Health, a California hospice and palliative‑care provider, has formed a joint venture with Loma Linda University Health to launch Loma Linda University Hospice serving the Inland Empire’s Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Under the agreement, Kara will run day‑to‑day...
![[UPDATED] CMS Proposes 2.4% Hospice Rate Increase for 2027](/cdn-cgi/image/width=1200,quality=75,format=auto,fit=cover/https://hospicenews.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2023/02/washington-monument-1628558_1280.jpg)
[UPDATED] CMS Proposes 2.4% Hospice Rate Increase for 2027
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has proposed a 2.4% payment increase for hospice providers in fiscal year 2027, translating to roughly $785 million in additional funding. The hospice per‑patient cap would rise to $36,210.11, up from $35,361.44...
Expert Panel Updating NCHPC’s Palliative Care Clinical Practice Guidelines
The National Coalition for Hospice and Palliative Care (NCHPC) has appointed a 33‑member expert panel to draft the fifth edition of its Clinical Practice Guidelines for Quality Palliative Care. First released in 2004, the guidelines set national, evidence‑based standards across...