How Hospice Technology is Shaping the Future of Care

The Evolution of Technology in Hospice Care

Hospice started in the late 1960s to provide compassionate end-of-life care through pain and symptom management. Historically, hospice agencies have heavily relied on paper-based practices for things such as documentation, charting, and patient records. This led to inefficiencies and created a larger burden on staff. Paper records made it difficult to streamline care and coordinate care across different teams.

Today, hospice care follows the same mission— providing comfort and care to patients and their families—but through a modernized, tech-forward approach. Take, for example, the implementation of electronic health records (EHRs). The use of EHRs in hospice care has removed paper from the equation and fostered improvements in efficiency, communication, and data security.

By putting their pens and paper down and instead integrating modern technologies such as EHRs into their care processes, hospice care agencies are helping to improve outcomes, streamline efficiencies, and provide more personalized care for hospice patients and their families.

Key Challenges and Trends Shaping Hospice Going Forward

As 2025 approaches, agencies are seeing common trends throughout hospice care:

Labor and Staff Shortages: Turnover and staff shortages remain prevalent in the hospice industry. Nurses accounted for a big part of the staffing shortages, with turnover rates observed as high as 25% in 2022. According to Hospice News, staff like CNAs and aides also saw turnover rates ranging from 19%-30%.

Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A): An increase in mergers and acquisitions across the country is another key trend to keep an eye on in the hospice and home health sectors. According to Hospice News, in 2023, mergers and acquisitions had dropped significantly compared to prior years, but 2024 marked a large jump in M&A activity. Deals surged significantly over the last year and have nearly doubled since pre-COVID volumes.

Missed Patient Visits: The management of missed patient visits is another prominent pressing issue for hospice agencies. Missed patient visits create risks to the quality and operational outcomes of an agency. Missed visits can also lead to things like disruption in the continuity of the care or even create compliance and regulatory risks.

CMS Final Rule: As 2024 comes to an end, hospice agencies are preparing for the CMS Final Hospice Rule for FY 2025, which brings key updates to payment and quality reporting. The payment rate will increase by 2.9%, though providers failing to meet quality standards will see a reduction. The aggregate cap is also updated to $34,465.34.

The Hospice Outcomes and Patient Evaluation (HOPE) tool will replace the Hospice Item Set (HIS), allowing for improved data collection throughout hospice stays. Additionally, new quality measures will be added by FY 2028, and updates to the CAHPS Hospice Survey will enhance patient feedback collection. The rule also includes geographic payment adjustments, introduces the Hospice Special Focus Program (SFP) for oversight of poor-performing providers, and addresses social determinants of health to improve equity in hospice care.

So how can agencies navigate these emerging trends and challenges heading into 2025? It all comes down to a willingness to embrace modern technologies and streamline inefficient processes.

MHA’s very own innovative hospice technology is helping agencies address some of these pressing issues. For example, our NOTIFYnana solution aims to improve communication between patients and providers. This text-based system informs patients about provider arrival times, helping to reduce missed visits.

NOTIFYnana is already making an impressive impact on agencies, with the program having successfully mitigated 206 at risk “missed visit” appointments in just three months. With incredible results like these, NOTIFYnana is transforming the way providers connect with patients. By reducing missed visits and reaching 87% of the patient population, the solution helps agencies deliver more timely, reliable care. After all, it's not just about improving efficiency for agencies, it's about ensuring patients feel informed, valued, and supported every step of the way.

How MHA is Revolutionizing Hospice Technology

The MHA Team aims to help you navigate the dynamic changes your agency might be facing heading into 2025. Our innovative tech-enabled solutions and services help hospice agencies streamline everything from operations to clinician turnover productivity.

NOTIFYnana: Provides real-time, data-driven text alerts to patients and caregivers, reduces missed visits and improves care continuity. It gathers patient feedback, enhances safety, and helps ensure timely resolution of issues, which leads to greater satisfaction across care settings.

nanaCONNECT: Delivers enhanced patient care with proactive, daily check-ins and personalized communication. The system’s simple rating mechanism and custom messages integrate smoothly into agency workflows, as it provides continuous monitoring of patient well-being and ensures timely interventions.

nanaBEREAVEMENT: Modernizes bereavement support with individualized, risk-based text messages that replace traditional mailed letters. It assesses bereavement risk and tailors communications accordingly, agencies can offer more meaningful, compassionate outreach while significantly cutting costs.

Caregiver Accelerator: A robust real-time productivity solution that directly addresses caregiver efficiency and performance. It integrates with payroll and EMR systems, this tool offers instant data access, customizable dashboards, and streamlines data management to boost care quality, reduce operational costs, and drive revenue growth. It empowers agencies to identify performance challenges early and make informed, data-backed decisions to support caregiver effectiveness.

Got questions? We’re here to help! Our team of experts, with vast experience in the home health and hospice industry, assists agencies in developing an efficient and cohesive strategy to navigate industry changes. Schedule a demo or discover more about MHA’s tech-enabled solutions by reaching out to our team at [email protected] or visiting https://www.maxwellhca.com/technology.

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How Hospice Technology is Shaping the Future of Care and Efficiency

The Evolution of Technology in Hospice Care

Key Challenges and Trends Shaping Hospice Going Forward

How MHA is Revolutionizing Hospice Technology