I have the good fortune of living in our nation’s capital, a wonderful spot to be during the July 4 festivities. While the fireworks are always spectacular and the spirit of patriotism palpable, what I also enjoy is the time we take to pay tribute to the many individuals in our own communities who, through their service and dedication, enrich our lives.
Julia Quinlan, the mother of Karen Ann Quinlan, is one of the first people that comes to my mind. June 11 marked the 25-year anniversary of her daughter’s death and, in May, she helped celebrate the 30-year anniversary of the hospice she and her late-husband, Joseph, founded in their daughter’s honor. I had the opportunity to talk with her last month about her family’s decade-long ordeal, how she came to learn about hospice, and the work she is still doing at the vibrant age of 83. Excerpts from our conversation appear in the July issue of NHPCO’s NewsLine, and I think, as you read it, you will find her accomplishments inspiring. Members can find July NewsLine at www.nhpco.org/newsline)
Mrs. Quinlan is one of the exceptional people who make hospice care what it is today, but there are others. A few weeks ago, as I was reviewing our first digital edition of Insights, I was reminded of many others. This magazine, which is a publication of NHPCO’s National Council of Hospice and Palliative Professionals, is very much a forum for our membership. Under the guidance of NCHPP’s leadership, members from around the country contribute articles about the work they are doing to improve care at the bedside. This particular issue mirrors the theme of our August conference on Developing the Care Continuum, and includes 15 articles by well-known hospice leaders as well as lesser-known clinicians who are equally committed. I’d like to offer a link to the digital issue of Insights for those who are interested in sharing the work of NHPCO members.
Last but not least, I’d like to personally thank John Thoma, the CEO of Hospice of Wake County, for writing the July NewsLine cover story about NHPCO’s new Standards and how it has benefited his program. He and his fellow members on the Quality and Standards Committee were instrumental in making this critical document a practical tool for the entire membership.
While the long holiday is now behind us, I hope you have each set aside time to enjoy some sunshine with your friends and loved ones. While our dedication to service excellence is both necessary and laudable, it requires sufficient rest.
Don
Showing posts with label conference. Show all posts
Showing posts with label conference. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Thursday, March 4, 2010
The wait is over...
Are you waiting on your MLC Brochure?...
The wait is over - view the digital brochure today. In an effort to be "green," NHPCO printed a limited number of MLC brochures and mailed one to each hospice. Worried you won't be able to review the educational offerings? The digital brochure makes it easier than ever. Check it out today and make your plans to join the more than 950 people already registered for the MLC.
For more information visit, http://www.nhpco.org
Monday, July 20, 2009
More Reasons to Attend NHPCO's 10th Clinical Team Conference
The Best Content and the Best Value. Discover why NHPCO's 10th Clinical Team Conference is the best educational value for hospice and palliative care professionals of all disciplines.The CTC is the only educational event designed to educate the entire interdisciplinary team, offering advanced, intermediate and introductory content for all clinicians.
Plenary Speakers:
- Vyjeyanthi (VJ) Periyakoil, MD
- Frank Ostaseski
- Gary Gardia, MEd, LCSW, CT
- Brad Montgomery, CSP
Learn more about these exciting plenary speakers.
The CTC is four conferences in one. The conference features the Facility-Based Hospice Forum, Pediatric Intensive and Scientific Symposium running seamlessly within the Clinical Team Conference.
Learn more online today.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Capitol Hill Day a Success
NHPCO CAPITOL HILL DAY PARTICIPANTS TO CONGRESS: PROTECT ACCESS TO COMPASSIONATE & HIGH-QUALITY END-OF-LIFE CARE
(Alexandria, Va) – More than 500 Hospice Advocates from across the country met with their U.S. Senators and Representatives yesterday, urging them to protect access to compassionate and high-quality end-of-life care for the more than 1.4 million patients and families who depend on hospice each year.
The meetings were part of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization’s annual Capitol Hill Day. In addition to the meetings in Washington, D.C., thousands of phone calls were made to Congressional offices by Hospice Advocates, who participated in NHPCO’s inaugural Virtual Hill Day.
Throughout their interactions with Congress, NHPCO Hill Day participants emphasized the value of hospice in their communities, provided state-level data on quality and family satisfaction with hospice services provided, and urged lawmakers to support efforts to stop cuts in Medicare hospice funding that threaten to close the doors of hospice programs around the country.
In 2008, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a regulation that eliminates a key component of the Medicare hospice reimbursement formula known as the budget neutrality adjustment factor (BNAF). The phased funding cut threatened 3,000 hospice provider jobs this year, as well as the survival of hospice programs, especially smaller and rural ones, across the country as the cuts were phased in. While a temporary moratorium on the hospice funding cuts was included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, it expires on September 30 of this year. Just this week, CMS released a proposed FY2010 Hospice Wage Index rule that would incorporate a 75 percent reduction in the BNAF, which is a 3.1 percent reduction in overall hospice reimbursement. This development underscores the urgency in rescinding the CMS rule.
NHPCO Hill Day participants specifically asked Members of Congress to sign on to a bipartisan letter to President Barack Obama and to contact the Department of Health and Human Services about rescinding the 2008 CMS hospice funding cut before it goes into effect on October 1 of this year.
“This is a critical year for the hospice community, so it was important for our advocates to send a strong message to Capitol Hill about the importance of the high-quality services provided through hospice, and the fact that hospice is a cost-saver to Medicare. If these funding cuts are allowed to go forward, they will have a devastating effect on access to high-quality and compassionate end-of-life care,” said J. Donald Schumacher, president and CEO of NHPCO.
In 2007, an independent, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded study by Duke University found that hospice reduced Medicare costs by $2,300 per patient, amounting to more than $2 billion in savings per year.
Hill Day kicks off NHPCO’s annual Management & Leadership Conference, which attracts more than 1,600 members of the hospice community from all over the nation. Two hundred additional members of the hospice community joined the Hill Day participants for a reception honoring Hospice Champions on Capitol Hill at the new U.S. Capitol Visitor Center. Later in the week, the hospice community will also hear from Nancy-Ann DeParle, Director of the White House Office of Health Care Reform, and Elizabeth Edwards when she is recognized as NHPCO’s Person of the Year.
For more information about NHPCO’s Capitol Hill Day, please visit: www.nhpco.org/advocacy.
Media Contact:
Sara Perkins
Manager of Public Policy Communications
Ph: 703-837-3155
sperkins@nhpco.org
(Alexandria, Va) – More than 500 Hospice Advocates from across the country met with their U.S. Senators and Representatives yesterday, urging them to protect access to compassionate and high-quality end-of-life care for the more than 1.4 million patients and families who depend on hospice each year.
The meetings were part of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization’s annual Capitol Hill Day. In addition to the meetings in Washington, D.C., thousands of phone calls were made to Congressional offices by Hospice Advocates, who participated in NHPCO’s inaugural Virtual Hill Day.
Throughout their interactions with Congress, NHPCO Hill Day participants emphasized the value of hospice in their communities, provided state-level data on quality and family satisfaction with hospice services provided, and urged lawmakers to support efforts to stop cuts in Medicare hospice funding that threaten to close the doors of hospice programs around the country.
In 2008, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a regulation that eliminates a key component of the Medicare hospice reimbursement formula known as the budget neutrality adjustment factor (BNAF). The phased funding cut threatened 3,000 hospice provider jobs this year, as well as the survival of hospice programs, especially smaller and rural ones, across the country as the cuts were phased in. While a temporary moratorium on the hospice funding cuts was included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, it expires on September 30 of this year. Just this week, CMS released a proposed FY2010 Hospice Wage Index rule that would incorporate a 75 percent reduction in the BNAF, which is a 3.1 percent reduction in overall hospice reimbursement. This development underscores the urgency in rescinding the CMS rule.
NHPCO Hill Day participants specifically asked Members of Congress to sign on to a bipartisan letter to President Barack Obama and to contact the Department of Health and Human Services about rescinding the 2008 CMS hospice funding cut before it goes into effect on October 1 of this year.
“This is a critical year for the hospice community, so it was important for our advocates to send a strong message to Capitol Hill about the importance of the high-quality services provided through hospice, and the fact that hospice is a cost-saver to Medicare. If these funding cuts are allowed to go forward, they will have a devastating effect on access to high-quality and compassionate end-of-life care,” said J. Donald Schumacher, president and CEO of NHPCO.
In 2007, an independent, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded study by Duke University found that hospice reduced Medicare costs by $2,300 per patient, amounting to more than $2 billion in savings per year.
Hill Day kicks off NHPCO’s annual Management & Leadership Conference, which attracts more than 1,600 members of the hospice community from all over the nation. Two hundred additional members of the hospice community joined the Hill Day participants for a reception honoring Hospice Champions on Capitol Hill at the new U.S. Capitol Visitor Center. Later in the week, the hospice community will also hear from Nancy-Ann DeParle, Director of the White House Office of Health Care Reform, and Elizabeth Edwards when she is recognized as NHPCO’s Person of the Year.
For more information about NHPCO’s Capitol Hill Day, please visit: www.nhpco.org/advocacy.
Media Contact:
Sara Perkins
Manager of Public Policy Communications
Ph: 703-837-3155
sperkins@nhpco.org
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
24th Management and Leadership Conference
Healthcare Reform, Advocacy, FDA Session and More on Agenda at National Hospice Leadership Conference in DC
DeParle, Edwards, FDA, Capitol Hill Day all highlights of NHPCO Management and
Leadership Conference April 22-25
(Alexandria, Va) – Over 1,600 hospice and palliative leaders, industry experts, and providers will gather to discuss the importance of hospice and palliative care in the healthcare reform debate and carry the voice of the hospice and palliative care community to Capitol Hill.
Plenary speakers include White House health reform “czar” Nancy-Ann Min DeParle, Elizabeth Edwards, Patrick Lencioni, and J. Donald Schumacher, NHPCO president/CEO. They will discuss the how quality end-of-life care is critical to the wellbeing of our nation’s healthcare landscape.
Hospice advocates will bring important messages about end-of-life care to Capitol Hill on Wednesday reminding legislators that hospice provides more care that costs less to dying Americans and their families.
The Food and Drug Administration will participate in a special listening session to discuss the impact of opioid availability. Hosted by NHPCO, AAHPM, CAPC, and HPNA, this session will allow participants to ask questions about the FDA’s plans regarding opioid production.
NHPCO’s Management and Leadership Conference will feature more than 80 concurrent workshops, awards, networking opportunities, and more. Highlights include:
- Hospice Capitol Hill Day – Wednesday, April 22, an all day event ending with a reception at the Capitol Visitor’s Center beginning at 5:00pm.
- Elizabeth Edwards – “Reforming Healthcare and Improving End-of-Life Care: Awakening Our National Conscience,” Thursday, April 23, 8:30am. Mrs. Edwards will also receive NHPCO’s Person of the Year Award.
- Special FDA Listening Session – to discuss opioid availability, Thursday, April 23, 12:15-1:15pm.
- Nancy-Ann Min DeParle, Director of the White House Office of Health Care Reform – to discuss health care reform and hospice/palliative care, Friday, April 24, 8:30am.
- Patrick Lencioni – “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team,” Friday, April 24, 9:00am.
- National Hospice Foundation Gala and Awards – “Bricks and Diamonds,”Friday, April 24, 6:30 – 11:00pm. Omni-Shoreham Hotel, Regency Ballroom.
Advocacy in Action: Mobilizing People and Organizations to Lead Change
National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization24th Management and Leadership ConferenceApril 22-25, 2009Omni-Shoreham Hotel, Washington, DC
Those interested in attending may register at the conference registration desk.
Those interested in attending may register at the conference registration desk.
Credentialed members of the media are invited. To RSVP prior to conference, contact Jon Radulovic. During conference, please check in at conference registration desk. Additional conference info available at www.nhpco.org/MLC2009.
Contact:
Jon Radulovic, vice president communications
Ph: 703-837-3139
Cell: 571-259-5026
For more information visit, http://www.nhpco.org
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Elizabeth Edwards Opens NHPCO's 24th Management and Leadership Conference
Reforming Healthcare and Improving End-of-Life Care: Awakening Our National Conscience
Elizabeth Edwards is a strong and deeply committed advocate for improved and accessible healthcare. She was publicly introduced to America when her husband, then Vice-Presidential candidate John Edwards, was launched into the spotlight in 2004. But it was her down-to-earth personality that charmed America.
Living with Strength, Comfort and Dignity
Mrs. Edwards knows from firsthand experience the need for changes to the healthcare system that will improve access, quality, and – for those facing the end of life – comfort and dignity.
Her personal experience in coping with cancer, caring for aging and ill parents and her professional work in the legal and policy areas have made her a passionate proponent for change.
Strength for the Future from the Foundation of the Past
Mrs. Edwards stated: “It is a test of our characters, individually and communally, what we value and honor when facing the end of life. Individually we do well: hospice professionals, who are trained, do extraordinarily well and even those, like me, who stumble through, do as well as can be expected. Communally, particularly as a nation, we do less well. The regulatory limitations on reimbursement for hospice care under Medicare do not reflect our national will that the ends of life – and all our lives will end – be as comfortable and dignified as possible.”
At NHPCO's 24th Management and Leadership Conference, Mrs. Edwards will share her ideas, perspectives and passion for improving healthcare during the opening plenary session. She will encourage the hospice community to hold fast to the values that founded the modern hospice movement while challenging all to continue to be champions for those at the end of life.
Make plans today to attend the premier end-of-life leadership conference.
Make plans today to attend the premier end-of-life leadership conference.
Register today to experience this special plenary session and over 100 innovative sessions at the 24th MLC.
- Preconference Seminars: April 21-22, 2009
- Main Conference: April 23-25, 2009
- Location: Omni Shoreham Hotel, Washington, D.C.
For more information visit, http://www.nhpco.org
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