Hospice Audits Series
Audits are a fact of life for hospices—it’s not a matter of “if” a hospice will be audited, but “when.” The alphabet soup of audits has expanded, from UPICs to SMRCs, CPIs, TPEs and more. With the...more
The State of the Hospice Market
Join Husch Blackwell's Meg Pekarske as she talks with Mark Kulik, Managing Director at the Braff Group, who shares his insights on growth and change in the hospice industry and the forces at...more
The “rules of the road” for Provider Relief Funds continue to evolve. Recent actions by Congress and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services provide further clarification in key areas that are helpful to hospices. In...more
The latest COVID Relief and Funding law passed in December 2020 brings dramatic changes to the hospice survey process. While CMS will need to engage in future rulemaking to implement the new framework, Congress created a...more
In this episode, Husch Blackwell's Meg Pekarske is joined by colleagues Jenna Brofsky, Erica Ash and Wakaba Tessier who provide an update on the legal landscape related to COVID-19 testing and vaccinations. Their conversation...more
1/13/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hospice ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP Act) ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
In today’s conversation Husch Blackwell's Meg Pekarske sits down with William Finn, the CEO of Hospice of the Western Reserve, where they share stories of change, innovation and opportunity in hospice and palliative care....more
Join Husch Blackwell's Meg Pekarske as she further explores good governance in hospice. In this conversation, Meg is joined by fellow attorney Stephanie E. Kaiser as they delve into the details about how a “good” board...more
With all that 2020 has brought, the Information Blocking Rule that came out of the Cures Act was under the radar of many hospices. Thankfully, HHS extended the compliance date for the Rule to April 5, 2021, from November 2,...more
The AseraCare court decision benefited hospices and physicians, particularly by recognizing the uncertainty surrounding prognostication of a six-month life expectancy and the principle that two physicians can disagree about...more
As we approach the 40th anniversary of the Medicare hospice benefit, we stand at an important reflection point to evaluate end-of-life care and map its future. In this new series, we gather leaders and thinkers from a range...more
The Trump Administration has shown an interest in regulatory reform with the goal of reducing the burden on regulated parties such as hospices. This has recently come to the forefront as part of the administration’s efforts...more
September was another busy month as hospices and other providers try to keep pace with the government’s constantly evolving rules and standards around various COVID-19 federal relief programs. In this episode of Hospice...more
In this episode, Husch Blackwell's Meg Pekarske is joined by colleague Stephanie Kaiser for a rich conversation on what it means for a hospice board to carry out its fiduciary duties and how this relates to the role and...more
No employer wants a union. While unions have not had deep presence in hospice, hospice employers are not immune to unionization efforts.
In this session, Husch Blackwell's Meg Pekarske is joined by her colleagues Jon...more
The hospice industry expressed collective disappointment when the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services declined additional time for implementing new election statement and addendum requirements. On October 1, 2020,...more
8/21/2020
/ Addendums ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Conditions of Payment ,
Health Care Providers ,
Hospice ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
New Rules ,
Training ,
Updated Forms ,
Wage Index
COVID-19 has affected all aspects of hospice care, operations and personnel, including the person whose judgment is at the center of the Medicare hospice benefit: the hospice physician. From new regulations addressing...more
COVID-19 threw a wrench into certain hospice audit activity, but the machine rumbles on. In today’s podcast episode, Husch Blackwell's Meg Pekarske, Erin Burns and Bryan Nowicki discuss the current state of hospice audits,...more
Medical reviews to restart-
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) medical review activity suspended due to COVID-19 is set to restart on August 3, 2020, regardless of the public health emergency status....more
The 2019 Aseracare Court of Appeals decision was lauded by hospices as appropriate push-back to overly aggressive whistleblowers and government enforcers. Its central holding, that two physicians can reasonably disagree about...more
Join Husch Blackwell's Meg Pekarske as she sits down with Carla Davis, CEO of Heart of Hospice, where they discuss Carla’s path to hospice and her vision for the future of end-of-life care. They explore the question of what...more
Under new guidance from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), hospices and other providers who received CARES Act Provider Relief Fund payments can hold off on filing their first quarterly compliance report,...more
Under new guidance from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), hospices and other providers who received CARES Act Provider Relief Fund payments can hold off on filing their first quarterly compliance report,...more
The 2019 Aseracare Court of Appeals decision was lauded by hospices as appropriate push-back to overly aggressive whistleblowers and government enforcers. Its central holding, that two physicians can reasonably disagree about...more
After the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) automatically distributed $30 billion to providers as Tranche #1 Relief Fund payments based on 2019 Medicare fee-for-service payment data, HHS subsequently released...more
Many hospices understand the general framework established for use of relief payments from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. However, questions remain about how to evaluate whether specific expenses and losses...more