Hospice Utilization Continues to Decline Nationwide

Among Medicare-eligible patients, hospice utilization has been declining for years. Specifically, hospice utilization among Medicare-eligible patients nationwide totaled about 2.55% in 2015, down from 2.59% in 2014 and 2.67% in 2013, according to a new analysis from Healthcare Market Resources. The Pennsylvania-based health care market intelligence firm calculated hospice utilization by dividing the number of […]

Monday Briefing: Trump Aims to Slash Agency Budgets

To get your week started off right, catch up with our Monday briefing. This week, we’ll clue you into President Trump’s budget proposal and the confirmation of Seema Verma as the new administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Keep reading to get a recap on our most popular stories from last […]

States Where Home Health Utilization Grew Most in 2015

Utilization of home health services as a whole remained flat and even saw a bit of decline from 2014 to 2015, but there were a number of states that saw growth during that year, according to data released by Healthcare Market Resources. Though the national overall utilization number was down to 10% in 2015 from […]

Hospice Utilization Declines for First Time in 10 Years

One might expect that hospice utilization would be unwavering or growing, given the country’s aging baby boomer population, as well as the growing awareness and universal availability of hospice services. In reality, hospice utilization across the country has fallen for the first time in 10 years, according to Healthcare Market Resources. The decline is only […]

Top States for Home Health Use

Home health utilization across the country has plateaued, marking the end of a growth spurt that lasted seven years, according to data compiled by Healthcare Market Resources. Still, rates varied significantly by state, perhaps indicating room for growth on a more granular level. The national average for home health utilization in 2014 was 8.76%. This […]

Top 5 States for Home Health Revenue Growth

Home health care revenues declined slightly on a national basis for the third straight year in 2013, but a significant number of individual states bucked that trend. From a peak of more than $19.5 billion in 2010, total home health agency revenues dropped to about $18.1 billion as of 2013, according to recently released data […]

Top 10 Places for Home Health Growth

Home health volume trends are less favorable than historical norms, a new six-year analysis of patient and discharge data reveals. But some states are bucking the recent industry shift, the report from Healthcare Market Resources shows. “As we look at the six-year national analysis, we see that the golden years for home health seem to […]

Has Face-to-Face Rule, Overregulation Stalled Home Health Growth?

While hiring trends and other indicators have given rise to the idea that home health is rapidly expanding, utilization of these services actually has leveled off on a national basis and is highly variable from state to state, new data reveal. Home health utilization did increase substantially between 2003 and 2013, going from less than […]