Hospice
09/11/2025
Register your hospice agency for the internet Quality Improvement and Evaluation System (iQIES) well in advance of the Oct. 1, 2025, implementation of the Hospice Outcomes and Patient Evaluation (HOPE) tool.
08/28/2025
Stress the importance of timeliness and accuracy in patient assessments as the Hospice Outcomes and Patient Evaluation (HOPE) tool implementation is just weeks away. Providers that fail to prepare for the new quality reporting requirements will face challenges in getting staff trained and ready for submission — potentially risking across-the-board payment cuts.
08/07/2025
Hospices will see a payment update in October that is slightly higher than expected — 2.6% nationally, or an estimated $750 million.
07/18/2025
The most common reason for hospice denials in the first quarter of 2025 was that the claim was not hospice appropriate, according to Palmetto GBA, a Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) servicing 16 states. Palmetto released its list of the top 10 hospice medical review denial reasons from January to March 2025 on May 16.
07/18/2025
Agencies may get tripped up when it comes to billing claims for hospice patients enrolled in MA programs.
06/26/2025
Hospice providers appreciate the 2.4% increase in the fiscal year 2026 Hospice Payment Rate Update proposed rule, but many stakeholders are worried that the update may not account for rising labor and operational costs.
06/18/2025
Agencies in rural communities that make information about their care more accessible to community members who may be isolated or lack trust in health care services could see both increased hospice utilization and patient engagement.
06/05/2025
Some of the industry’s leading advocates in Washington are asking CMS to delay its implementation of the HOPE tool.
05/08/2025
Review your documentation practices — and your Electronic Medicare Record (EMR) capabilities — as a clarification in attestation requirements could complicate compliance and lead to more audit scrutiny.
05/01/2025
For the first time since October 2014, CMS released an updated list of the invalid principal diagnosis codes for Medicare beneficiaries receiving hospice care.

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