Every week, hospice providers will be receiving a legislative update so you can be aware of what is going on in your respective states during the session. We hope that you will find this information helpful and insightful. If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Maxcine “Max” Tomlinson at: [email protected] […]
MEDPAC RELEASES REPORT TO CONGRESS ON MEDICARE PAYMENT POLICY The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has released the March 2019 Report to the Congress: Medicare Payment Policy. The 531-page report covers a broad range of issues—from the context for Medicare payment policy to outpatient dialysis services and opioid alternatives in hospital settings. It provides […]
Federal Register Highlights DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services 42 CFR Part 455 Office of Inspector General Medicaid; Revisions to State Medicaid Fraud Control Unit Rules This final rule amends the regulation governing State Medicaid Fraud Control Units (MFCUs or Units). The rule incorporates statutory changes affecting the Units […]
Federal News and Information Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospice Provider Preview Reports Now Available Hospice provider preview reports and Hospice Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS®) Survey ® provider preview reports have been updated and are now available. These two separate reports are available in your Certification and Survey Provider Enhanced Reports […]
AUTHOR FINDS MEANING IN BOTH SCIENCE AND THE SPIRIT FOR THOSE NEAR LIFE’S END Sunita Puri’s new book, That Good Night: Life and Medicine in the Eleventh Hour, is drawing attention for how we understand medicine’s role in the last stage of life. Puri, a palliative care and hospice physician, shares intimate moments from her […]
Co-sponsored by Texas & New Mexico Hospice Organization. Monday, March 18, 2019 at 8:30 AM -to- Tuesday, March 19, 2019 at 3:45 PM Boot Camp | $695 Additional 3rd day Wednesday, March 20, 2019 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM Striving for Documentation Success | $325 (Open to registrants attending the 2-day Boot Camp or anyone […]
Federal Register Highlights DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Office of the Secretary Annual Update of the HHS Poverty Guidelines–This notice provides an update of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) poverty guidelines to account for last calendar year’s increase in prices as measured by the Consumer Price Index. The guidelines in this […]
BOOM TIMES AND CHALLENGES FOR HOME HEALTH AND HOSPICE MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS In two recent articles in Home Health Care News, Bailey Bryant looks to the year ahead for home health agencies and the trends in palliative care and hospice. She foresees a boom in home health and hospice mergers and acquisitions in 2019. It’s […]
CY 2018 Participation Exemption for Size Form Now Available
Provider Preview for CAHPS Hospice Survey Public Reporting began December 10
New Mexico 54th Legislative Session The New Mexican Legislative Session begins January 15 and ends March 16, 2019. Legislation may be pre-filed from December 17, 2018 to January 11, 2019. Texas 86th Legislative Session The Texas Legislative Session (86th) begins January 8, 2019 and ends May 27, 2018. Pre-filing has begun. […]
The Hospice Item Set (HIS) Manual V2.01 is updated with refined guidance to clarify HIS coding instructions. Note: No updates were made to HIS items. Visit the HIS webpage for more information: https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-Instruments/Hospice-Quality-Reporting/Downloads/HIS_Manual_V201.pdf.
It’s about looking at hospice as another, more welcoming option as opposed to zig-zagging back and forth from a patient’s home to the doctor’s office to the emergency room to the hospital. It’s about understanding that, during that end-of-life time, tests and X-rays can be painful or at the very least exhausting for people who could benefit more from the loving contact of being with friends and loved ones.”
“Could I serve my patients more fully if I paid more attention to what lies beyond their small self? Is the inner work of dying not about deciding how you want things arranged but instead about learning how to allow the small self to dissolve?” It’s one thing to read about this loss of the small self, he concludes, but another to experience it.
Among the items in this legislation is a provision that allows certain hospice employees to dispose of controlled substance drugs onsite after a patient’s death, currently prohibited under 2014 DEA regulations.
“We should be looking to how much we spend on sick people, not how much we spend on people who die within some arbitrary time frame. If we are going to cure the medical cost growth problem, we first need to accurately diagnose the problem.”
TNMHO represents member organizations at both the national and state levels before legislative bodies and regulatory agencies. Our board of directors and staff are respected points of contact and information for rule-making authorities. We advocate for our members in governance decisions large and small, offering practical insight and advocating for fair and ethical policies. In […]
Compared with those in lower-spending areas, physicians in higher-spending areas reported less knowledge about and comfort with treating dying patients and less positive attitudes about hospice.
Advanced heart failure (HF) patients who received HF-tailored hospice care used less healthcare, lived longer, and were less likely to die in the hospital, according to a propensity score-matched Medicare analysis
Also highlighted in the article is the Louisiana State Penitentiary prison known as Angola, which will enviably make decisions about end-of-life care options for the 80% of its 6,500 inmates serving life sentences. Both Minnesota and Angola, notes the article allows families to visit the dying inmates “in an attempt to replicate hospice practices as they would occur in the community.”