Home Health & Hospice Week
PE-Backed Hospice Chain Makes Midwest Buys
Plus: Non-profit hospice affiliates with non-acute health system in Florida. Troy, Michigan-based Residential Hospice has entered two new states via acquisitions for undisclosed amounts. Residential, a division of Graham Healthcare Group, has acquired Comfort Hospice in St. Louis and Grace Hospice in Maumee, Ohio, from U.S. Medical Management, it says in a release. GHG is a subsidiary of Graham Holdings Company, which owned The Washington Post and was called The Washington Post Company until it sold its flagship newspaper to Jeff Bezos in 2013 for $250 million. GHG companies include Residential Home Health, Residential Hospice, Allegheny Health Network (AHN) Healthcare@Home, and Mary Free Bed at Home, the release notes. They employ more than 2,800 staff serving 13,000 patients in Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and now Missouri and Ohio. “We are poised for expansion throughout the Midwest as we continue our mission of making hospice care more accessible to our communities,” Justin DeWitte, CEO of Residential Hospice, says in the release. Other recent deals include: In New Mexico: Jet Health Inc. has opened a new location in Santa Fe, operating under its Klarus Home Health brand, the Fort Worth, Texas-based regional chain says in a release. “Klarus Home Health in Santa Fe intends to double its staff over the next six months,” Jet Health says. It “is working toward quickly expanding to provide services in Santo Domingo Pueblo, Cochiti Pueblo, Pena Blanca and El Dorado,” it adds. Jet Health operates in Texas, New Mexico, Colorado and Idaho, with Klarus in the first three of those states. In Florida: Hospice of Marion County in Ocala plans to affiliate with non-acute health system Empath Health. The nonprofit companies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to begin the process, Empath says in a release. Clearwater-based Empath operates Tidewell Hospice, Suncoast Hospice, Suncoast Hospice of Hillsborough, as well as home health, physician, pharmacy, durable medical equipment, and other services. It merged with Stratum Health System last year (see HCW by AAPC, Vol. XXX, No. 3). Empath Home Health also recently acquired Heal at Home Healthcare in Marion County, Empath President Jonathan Fleece notes in the release.
Home Health & Hospice Week
- Value-Based Purchasing:
VBP Baseline Move Is A Raw Deal, HHAs Tell CMS
Suggestion: If CMS won’t keep 2019 as the baseline year, then it should postpone implementation. [...] - Education:
Make The Most Of The 4 Months Left Before VBP Implementation
If you missed the latest VBP webinar, it’s now available to review. As home health [...] - Reimbursement:
VBP Has Problems Beyond Date Change
Medicare Advantage will make HHAs’ lives difficult in even more ways under the new payment [...] - Face-To-Face:
F2F Telehealth Will End When PHE Does, CMS Confirms
But that’s not quite the whole story. Medicare officials have told providers to begin planning [...] - Mergers & Acquisitions:
PE-Backed Hospice Chain Makes Midwest Buys
Plus: Non-profit hospice affiliates with non-acute health system in Florida. Troy, Michigan-based Residential Hospice has [...] - Fraud & Abuse:
Novus Hospice Fraudsters Approach A Century Of Prison Time
The longest sentence is more than 13 years, while the most recent is for the [...] - Industry Notes:
Providers To Give CMS A Piece Of Their Minds About Emergency Prep
Watch for potential EP changes in the future. The COVID-19 public health emergency has dominated [...] - Industry Notes:
ACOs Save Medicare Big Bucks Year After Year
Whether you see ACOs as an opportunity or a hindrance — or both — they’re [...] - Industry Notes:
Tap More Detailed Help For HQRP Report Access
If your staff could use some help downloading Hospice Quality Reporting Program reports, the Centers [...] - Industry Notes:
Take An Email Break This Weekend
Hold onto that email to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services until after Labor [...] - Industry Notes:
Managed Care Enrollees Make Up Nearly Half Of Medicare Benes
The number of Medicare enrollees continues to climb. “As of May 2022, 64,553,288 people are [...] - Industry Notes:
Don't Sleep On Clerical Reopenings
Don’t waste time on an appeal when you can get a simple reopening instead. But [...] - Industry Notes:
Consult Newly Updated Guidance On Billing For Hospice Docs, NPPs
The MACs are offering a helping hand when it comes to billing hospice physician, nurse [...]
