Hospice

COLUMBUS, Ohio & BRENTWOOD, Tennessee—Compassus, a national provider of integrated home-based care services, and OhioHealth, a nonprofit health care outreach of the United Methodist Church, announced the finalization of their partnership for home health and hospice services to be called OhioHealth at Home in partnership with Compassus.

WASHINGTON— Dr. Steven Landers has been named the inaugural chief executive officer (CEO) of the newly merged NAHC-NHPCO Alliance (The Alliance). A national leader and innovator in home health, primary care and aging services, Landers brings almost two decades of experience as a physician, executive leader and health policy advocate to The Alliance, which represents care at home and community providers across the country.

CLEVELAND, Ohio—Hospice of the Western Reserve (HWR), a premier provider of hospice and palliative care services in Northern Ohio, has completed its acquisition of Hospice of North Central Ohio (HNCO). This strategic alliance aims to expand access to high-quality, comprehensive end-of-life care across a broader region.

FRANKLIN, Tennessee—Traditions Health announced its Lawrenceville, Georgia branch is now a Level Five Partner with We Honor Veterans, a program of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO). Traditions Health of Lawrenceville is one of only seven hospices in the state of Georgia to have earned Level Five status. 

FRANKLIN, Tennessee—American Health Plans, a division of American Health Partners, has announced its partnership with Empath Health, a not-for-profit hospice and home-based health care organization. Their partnership seeks to grow American Health Advantage of Florida, an Institutional Special Needs Plans (ISNP) providing Medicare Advantage coverage to the long-term care population of Florida.  

SARASOTA, Florida—Tidewell Foundation received a grant of $5,050 from the Eugene H. and Elizabeth Hull Fund of the Manatee Community Foundation (MCF) to support Tidewell Hospice grief services in Manatee County.

The grant will support art-related grief and bereavement programming for Tidewell Hospice, which provides 13 months of grief support services, free of charge, to family members of Tidewell patients after their loss.

WASHINGTON—The new group formed by the recent merger of the National Association for Homecare and Hospice (NAHC) and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) has already gotten to work advocating in the industry—even though it doesn’t yet have a name or CEO. 

LOS ANGELES—A Ventura County physician who worked for two Pasadena hospices pleaded guilty to defrauding Medicare out of more than $3 million by billing the public health insurance program for medically unnecessary hospice services.

Victor Contreras, 68, of Santa Paula, pleaded guilty to one count of health care fraud.

WASHINGTON—Gentiva, successor to Kindred at Home, has agreed to pay $19.428 million to resolve allegations that Kindred at Home and related entities (Kindred) knowingly submitted false claims and knowingly retained overpayments for hospice services provided to patients who were ineligible to receive hospice benefits under various federal health care programs.

WASHINGTON—The NAHC-NHPCO Alliance (the Alliance) is continuing the process of integrating the two organizations into a single, cohesive champion for the care-at-home community. The Alliance said the member voice is critical to the success of this endeavor. As such, all members of legacy NAHC and legacy NHPCO are invited to a virtual Town Hall on Wednesday, July 31, 2024 to learn more about new leadership, progress on integration, how members can stay involved in the Alliance and more.

WASHINGTON & ALEXANDRIA, Virginia—The NAHC-NHPCO Alliance submitted a comment letter to the office of Rep.

ST. LOUIS, Missouri—Residential Home Health and Hospice (Residential), a division of Graham Healthcare Group, announced that it has been named a 2024 Top Workplace by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. This is the fourth year that Residential has received the award in the St. Louis market.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch Top Workplaces Award is an annual recognition program celebrating companies in the St. Louis metro area that excel in employee satisfaction and engagement.

MIAMI, Florida—AccentCare, a nationwide provider of home health, hospice and personal care services, announced the opening of a new inpatient hospice center in Miami, Florida. Expanding its footprint in south Florida, AccentCare’s new facility aims to address the region’s diverse population and growing need for greater access to personal and high-quality hospice care.

WASHINGTON & ALEXANDRIA, Virginia—On June 10, the Board Chairs and chief executive officers of the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) met in Washington, D.C. to formally sign the affiliation agreement between the two leading organizations in the care at home community.

DALLAS—Axxess, a global technology innovator for health care at home, and SimiTree, a revenue cycle, coding, professional services and talent management resource for post-acute and behavioral health organizations, announced the launch of two new products designed to provide Axxess' home health and hospice clients with even more valuable insights to strategically plan and drive growth.

WASHINGTON—On June 13, 2024, Congressman Earl Blumenauer of Oregon released a discussion draft of legislation, the Hospice Care Accountability, Reform, and Enforcement (Hospice CARE) Act, that would make significant changes to the Medicare hospice program. 

DALLAS—During Hospice Action Week in Washington D.C., the Hospice Action Network (HAN) named Axxess Executive Vice President of Interoperability Tim Ingram the 2023 MyHospice Ambassador of the Year. This award recognizes Ingram’s outstanding leadership and advocacy for hospice care.

LOS ANGELES—Five individuals were arrested in Los Angeles on criminal charges related to their roles in a years-long scheme to defraud Medicare of more than $15 million through sham hospice companies and then to launder the fraud proceeds.

WASHINGTON & ALEXANDRIA, Virginia—The National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) responded to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently revised guidance regarding the implementation of the hospice certifying physician enrollment requirement.

WARWICK, Rhode Island—AccentCare, a nationwide provider of home health, hospice and personal care services, announced the opening of its Warwick hospice location and its expansion into Rhode Island.