Hospice

For hospice and home-health organizations, staffing after-hours shifts presents a unique challenge. Patients’ needs don’t magically pause between office hours, yet many agencies still rely on outdated scheduling models that leave nurses exhausted, escalation rates high, and patient satisfaction vulnerable. In this post, we’ll explore how thoughtful scheduling, strategic outsourcing, and nurse-first triage support can [...]

Home health and hospice leaders know the strain of delivering quality care 24/7 with shrinking staff, rising patient volumes, and growing oversight. One strategy many haven’t fully leveraged yet is after-hours triage. A nurse-first triage model is about more than answering calls. Outsourcing your nurse triage function is a strategy that saves money, strengthens staff [...]

In 2008, IntellaTriage was founded from a deeply personal experience. Our founder, Suzi Meschbach, saw firsthand how fragmented after-hours nurse triage care could impact not only patients  in hospice and home health, but also their families and clinicians.  As caregiver for an elderly grandparent while still juggling her career and family, Suzi Meschbach did not [...]

Recent data breaches are once again highlighting the urgency of securing protected health information (PHI). In March 2025, Yale New Haven Health System disclosed that an unauthorized third party accessed the personal data of nearly 5.6 million patients. Around the same time, Kentucky’s Cumberland County Hospital suffered a breach affecting more than 36,000 individuals, including [...]

Partners In Care - A Success Story. Partners In Care is a 5-star nonprofit provider of hospice, palliative, and home health services in Oregon. When they decided to reevaluate their after-hours care model, the goal was clear: prioritize patient care while supporting the nurses who make it all possible. Their home health and hospice nurses [...]

People who work in hospice care understand that, at its core, it is the lived experience of patients and their families during some of life's most vulnerable moments. As regulatory expectations rise and patient-centered care becomes the standard, hospice providers should proactively influence the quality measures that shape outcomes, perceptions, and reimbursement. Key hospice quality [...]

Patient engagement is a comprehensive approach to connecting with hospice and home health patients and their families beyond routine visits. A home health or hospice episode begins with a Start of Care (SOC) or admission and ends with discharge or end-of-life care. These episodes vary, beginning with the standard 60-day period for home health. In [...]

In the complex world of hospice and home health care, after-hours triage is far more than a necessity—it's a critical component of quality patient care. Patients and caregivers often face urgent questions and challenging situations during nights and weekends. Having access to expert hospice and home health triage services ensures timely, compassionate responses, alleviating stress [...]

Every interaction with patients and families in home health and hospice care is crucial. However, the stakes are even higher during after-hours calls. Patients and their loved ones depend on timely, compassionate care to navigate complex health situations. After-hours is when the expertise of nurse triage becomes not just a convenience but a necessity for [...]

Starting September 30, 2025, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will roll out the HOPE (Hospice Outcomes and Patient Evaluation) assessment tool, a game-changer in patient satisfaction surveys and quality reporting for hospices. Replacing the current HIS, CMS designed this new tool to provide a more comprehensive picture of each hospice patient's journey, [...]

The patient experience is at the heart of hospice care, especially during the vulnerable moments at the end of life. Timely access to compassionate, skilled support is essential not only for managing physical symptoms but also for ensuring emotional comfort for both patients and their families. The following stories illustrate how a simple difference in [...]

In hospice care, the patient experience is everything. It’s not just about how an agency measures in numbers or scores—it’s about the team ensuring that the final moments of life are as dignified and comfortable as possible. Imagine the difference between calling your hospice agency in the middle of the night and getting an answering [...]