The hospice field is skeptical of a hospice carve-in for Medicare Advantage, particularly given the problems with the Value-Based Insurance Design (VBID) model. But Robin Heffernan, PhD, co-founder and CEO of Empassion, a network of hospice and palliative care providers, has a different perspective. Hospice offers a great value proposition for MA plans, so high-quality providers have nothing to fear. Empassion’s recent launch of a hospice certification program offers a roadmap for how good providers can distinguish themselves and excel in the event of a second VBID model, she told McKnight's Home Care in a Newsmakers podcast.
Robin Heffernan, PhD, started Empassion during the COVID-19 pandemic to help support people with hospice and palliative care in their last year of life. During this time, she had a personal brush with the benefit as her dad needed it. The company’s new hospice certification, launched earlier this month, aims to separate the high-quality hospices from the rest. The certification has generated a lot of interest, from providers and regulators, she said. With the certification, the company is not creating new metrics, but rather paring the metrics down to five to seven that really matter. With the mainstream press talking about hospice fraud, the certification is a way to take advantage of the attention and help people understand that there are great hospices available to provide care. The Value-Based Insurance Design (VBID) model, the hospice component of which ended in 2024, was also an impetus for the certification. Because a second demonstration likely is inevitable given the prevalence of MA, it’s important that MA plans be able to work with good hospices. She is optimistic that, given the healthcare savings that hospice allows, MA plans would pay hospice agencies fairly. While home health agencies had a difficult experience with MA plans, at least initially, the difference is MA plans truly see the ROI of hospice; not all grasp the value of home health, she said.
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Show contributors:
McKnight’s Home Care Editor Liza Berger; Robin Heffernan, PhD, co-founder and CEO, Empassion