Tammy Worth
Historically, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services hasn't put a lot of emphasis on tracking costs in the hospice industry.
Only about 44 percent of Medicare patients take advantage of their hospice benefit and, for those that do, the average length of stay in hospice is about 67 days; one-third of patients either die or are discharged within one week of admission, according to the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization.
With patients paying more out-of-pocket costs and exchanges increasing the number of plans providers deal with, having financial counselors in a practice may become a necessity.
Union Village, an integrated health community where seniors can both live and receive healthcare services may be the future of healthcare.
Hospices can now lose Medicare payments if they don’t file cost reports, and yet, because there are no penalties for inaccurate reporting, there is little motivation to spend much time on them.
Experts say that cash-only practices are a workable business model when done the right way, but it may be disruptive to others in the market.
An Illinois home health case heard recently by the Supreme Court could reach far beyond that sector, dramatically changing the way labor unions operate across the country.
When there were changes last year to CPT codes, Lisette Wright saw revenue cycle shifts disruptive enough to put behavioral health organizations she worked with out of business.
With fewer resources available and a need to control and better understand costs, UPMC has piloted a cost-analysis system that may become a national model.
There is no way to make bad news sound good, but, according to CFOs who have been there, it is possible to soften the blow.