Patient length of stay is monitored to detect instances of inappropriate use of the hospice benefit or other deficiencies in the services delivered by the hospice provider. Length of stay is...
Average length of stay versus median length of stay
Patients are eligible for hospice if they have a terminal diagnosis and a prognosis of six or fewer months to live if their disease runs its natural course. A patient who lives longer than six...
Measuring and monitoring employee sentiment
How can your hospice organization find out what your employees are thinking? How do you know if your employees are satisfied? Dissatisfied? How do you know if employee satisfaction varies across...
Leadership and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a theory that can be used to provide leaders and organizations with guidance on how to motivate employees. But what is this hierarchy and what is Maslow’s theory? What...
What is a False Claims Act investigation?
What is the False Claims Act
Using data to support a hospice marketing strategy
Why is data valuable? Like all other business decisions, a hospice marketing plan must be data driven. More progressive hospice agencies have increasingly begun to understand the value of many types...
What is the hospice governing body?
What is the governing body? In accordance with the Conditions of Participation, a Medicare certified hospice agency must have a governing body. The governing body has ultimate responsibility for the...
What is a UPIC audit?
What is a UPIC? Unified Program Integrity Contractors (UPICs) are contracted by CMS to conduct detailed medical review, data analysis, and audits of healthcare providers to investigate possibilities...
What is the TPE audit process?
What is a TPE? A Targeted Probe and Educate (TPE) is an audit program that was rolled out by CMS in 2017. The stated goal of this program is to help providers reduce claim denials and appeals. The...