hospice

DALLAS—Axxess, a technology platform for health care at home, and Texas Capital, a full-service financial services firm that delivers customized solutions to businesses, entrepreneurs and individual customers, announced a product integration that will enable faster payment reconciliation for home health and hospice providers.

WASHINGTON—Hospice leaders praised the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) decision to cease the implementation of the Hospice Special Focus Program (SFP). CMS announced on February 14 on its website that implementation of the program had ceased for calendar year 2025 “so that CMS may further evaluate the program.” No additional details were provided.

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia & WASHINGTON—The National Alliance for Care at Home (The Alliance) and Transcend Strategy Group, a marketing agency for homecare companies, published the results of their Rural American Hospice Insights report, a new study that explored perceptions of hospice care amon

MCKINNEY, Texas—New Day Healthcare, a home-based services provider, announced the acquisition of hospice operations in Missouri and Texas from Intrepid USA, a full-service home health agency. The company said these hospice operations aim to further its existing service line offerings and operations.

WASHINGTON—The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) conducted an audit to determine whether Medicare Part B properly paid for durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics and supplies to hospice enrollees from the time period of 2017 through 2021. This audit took place in order to follow up on a prior OIG audit, which found Medicare Part B improperly paid suppliers for such supplies.

HATTIESBURG, Mississippi—Arden Home Health and Hospice, a hospice and home health services provider, announced the formal opening of its new corporate headquarters located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The opening’s celebration, which was held on Friday, Nov. 1, featured a ribbon-cutting ceremony in partnership with the Area Development Partnership (ADP), a private, non-profit organization based in Hattiesburg.

RENTON, Washington & BRENTWOOD, Tennessee—Providence, a not-for-profit health system serving the Western United States, and Compassus, a national provider of integrated home-based care services, announced an agreement to form a joint venture in home health, hospice, community-based palliative care and private duty caregiving services.

DALLAS—Enhabit Inc., a home health and hospice provider, announced it has been recognized by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) as an Age-Friendly Health Systems participant.

BALTIMORE—The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has released the first draft of its hospice outcomes and patient evaluation (HOPE) tool, a new assessment tool for hospices. The HOPE tool was developed to replace the hospice item set (HIS) as part of the hospice quality reporting program (HQRP). 

RICHMOND, Virginia—The Bon Secours Home Care and Hospice programs, which serves the greater Richmond area, announced a new name: Bon Secours Home Care and Hospice by Compassus. The name change reflects a joint venture partnership between Bon Secours Mercy Health, a Catholic health system in the U.S., and Compassus, a national provider of integrated home-based health care services, which was finalized earlier this year.

DALLAS—Intrepid USA Inc., headquartered in Dallas, and various wholly-owned subsidiaries have agreed to pay $3.85 million to resolve the allegations that Intrepid violated the false claims act in connection with two lines of its business. The first allegation was that Intrepid knowingly submitted claims to Medicare for home health care services for patients who did not qualify for the Medicare home health care benefit or where services otherwise did not qualify for Medicare reimbursement.

DENVER, Colorado—Care Synergy announced Dr. Robert Howe, D.O. has been selected as Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for all hospice, palliative care and home health affiliates across the Care Synergy network. Affiliates include The Denver Hospice (TDH), Peak Hospice in Colorado Springs, Pathways Hospice in Fort Collins and the Colorado Visiting Nurses Association which serves patients across the Front Range. Howe joined the organization last year as Chief Medical Officer for TDH.