Dementia Patients Suffer Burdensome Transitions - New study in New England Journal of Medicine

Today’s issue of the New England Journal of Medicine includes a study co-authored by NHPCO board member Joan Teno, MD. The study, with researchers from Harvard University and Dartmouth Medical School, found that one-fifth of Medicare nursing home patients with advanced Alzheimer's or other dementias were sent to hospitals or other nursing homes for questionable reasons in their final months, often enduring tube feeding and intensive care that prolonged their demise.

This study is receiving a good deal of media coverage. The abstract of the article is available on the NEJM website. http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsa1100347

Volunteer Leadership is the Focus of NHPCO’s Virtual Conference Set for Summer 2012

NHPCO is pleased to announce the dates for a unique educational event focused on volunteerism. Ignite the Future is the theme for NHPCO’s Volunteer Leadership Virtual Conference being held July 30-August 3, 2012.

Hosted online, this educational program is exclusively focused on the art and science of hospice volunteerism. This virtual conference will offer all the benefits of an in-person conference without the added time and expense of travel. Highlights include:

· Live-broadcast plenary sessions featuring national speakers.

· Specific sessions for both new and seasoned volunteer leaders/managers.

· Specific day, August 2, dedicated to Volunteers affording them the opportunity to enhance their skills and participate in a national hospice event.

· Poster presentations and an exhibit hall online.

· Real-time networking in easy-to-use chat rooms.

Being introduced for the first time at an NHPCO conference are IGNITE! Sessions – a new presentation format gaining popularity with many educational institutions. Each of the IGNITE! Sessions will last exactly 5 minutes long with presenters focusing on a single, simple and innovative message that shares personal and professional passions or unique strategies and approaches.

Registration fees for this virtual event are based on the number of Internet connections that your organization uses to access the content. In order to ensure that programs of all size are able to participate, NHPCO has created a sliding-fee scale based on a program’s 2010 Annual Patient Census (which is also used to calculate provider organization’s NHPCO dues).

Visit the conference webpage to learn more and be sure to save the dates to attend this virtual event.

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A Message from Don Schumacher on the Anniversary of 9-11

As we approach the tenth anniversary of 9-11 this weekend, many hospices are hosting events to help their communities deal with the memories of that tragic day. While we reflect on this day that profoundly changed our nation, there are other communities across the country coping with destruction resulting from recent flooding, hurricanes, wildfires and other life-altering events. Whether you are remembering the legacy of September 11 or facing more recent tragedies let me share the pride that I feel from being a part of the hospice and palliative care community. I continue to be inspired by lessons of strength and resilience that I learn from you all. During the upcoming weekend, take time to acknowledge those you love and the community you are a part of.

Don Schumacher
NHPCO President & CEO

Choosing a Quality Hospice - a new resource from NHPCO

Free Resource Helps Patients & Families Choose a Quality Hospice

When a loved one is diagnosed with a serious or life-limiting illness, the questions facing an individual or a family can be overwhelming. Hospices provide invaluable support and expert care to help people through this challenging time. The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization has released a new, free worksheet that walks individuals through questions to guide the process of finding the best hospice for their unique needs.

With multiple hospices serving some communities, it can seem challenging to select one. NHPCO suggests the best way to begin is by reaching out to the hospice providers in your community to find the one best equipped to meet your family’s specific needs. The new worksheet, Choosing a Quality Hospice, will help.

“Choosing a hospice to care for yourself or a loved one in the final days and months of life is such an important and stressful process,” said J. Donald Schumacher NHPCO president and CEO. “Each hospice offers unique services and partners with specific community providers – so it’s important to call the hospices in your area and ask them questions to find the one with the services and support that are right for you.”

Schumacher continued, “Your doctor or a family friend may suggest one or more local hospices, however, the patient and family make the ultimate decision about which hospice they choose.”

Caring Connections, a program of NHPCO, has developed a worksheet that provides suggested questions to ask a hospice when you contact them.

· Is the hospice Medicare certified?

· When was the last state or federal survey of the program?

· Is the hospice a member of NHPCO and its Quality Partners Initiative?

· What extra services does the hospice provide?

· What services do volunteers offer?

· What options are available if a person needs in-patient care in a facility?

Another significant question is when to actually begin hospice care. Every family can decide when to begin hospice, however, professionals encourage people to learn about care options long before they think they may need them.

“If a family doesn’t feel ready for hospice, they should ask about palliative care that brings the same team approach to quality care earlier in the course of a serious illness. America’s hospices are the largest providers of palliative care and no one is better trained at helping people who need expert pain and symptom management as well as support for family members caring for a loved one. Hospice helps individuals with a life-limiting illness live as fully as possible for as long as possible,” Schumacher added.

Download the free Choosing a Quality Hospice worksheet from Caring Connections (http://www.caringinfo.org/files/public/brochures/Choosing_Hospice.pdf ),

To find out which hospices serve your community, call NHPCO’s HelpLine at 1-800-658-8898 or visit www.caringinfo.org/findahospice.

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Hospice Care Wins Modern Healthcare’s Big Impact Tournament

Win Affirms All That Hospice Care has Contributed to Healthcare

(Alexandria, Va) –From a field that began with 64 contestants in four major categories – People, Companies, Innovations, and Events – Hospice Care won Modern Healthcare’s Big Impact Tournament. Hospice Care defeated the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in the final round by a nearly 3-to-1 margin as having had the biggest impact on the healthcare delivery system over the past 35 years.

“Much of what now is considered integral to quality healthcare has roots that can be traced back to hospice,” said J. Donald Schumacher, president and CEO of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. “It is heartening to see that the readers of Modern Healthcare recognize the innovative contributions of hospice during a time when reducing hospital re-admissions, medical home and other hallmarks of quality are being discussed as essential elements of quality, cost-effective care.”

Innovations that are hallmarks of hospice care include:

• Patient-centered care – focusing on the wishes and priorities of those being cared for;
• Home and community-based care – empowering patients to receive care at home, nursing homes, assisted living and other settings;
• Family caregivers – supporting families and teaching them to care for their loved ones at home;
• Interdisciplinary, holistic care – delivering care and services that focus on pain management, symptom control, psychosocial and spiritual support;

Hospice began as a volunteer-driven, grassroots movement in the US in the late 1970s. Today, hospice is an integral part of the healthcare landscape that cares for more than 1.5 million patients every year.

“Innovation never stops within the hospice field with many hospice organizations working to develop the continuum of care that builds on the many benefits of hospice and would bring more seamless care delivery to all individuals facing serious and life-limiting illness,” Schumacher added. “For three decades hospices have been the largest providers of palliative care, and today, more and more providers are building upon the innovations of hospices to develop hospital-based palliative care programs, transition programs, PACE services and more.”

In the tournament, hospice received more votes than such contenders as electronic health records, patient safety advocacy, and clinical and financial performance transparency. For the complete results, visit Modern Healthcare's website.

Information about hospice is available at NHPCO’s Caring Connections at CaringInfo.org.

Don Schumacher Comments on Recent Media Focus

A Message from NHPCO President and CEO

J. Donald Schumacher
July 22, 2011

Recent attention in the media has turned a bright spotlight on purported problems in hospice. Only yesterday, NHPCO issued a Regulatory Alert summarizing information put out by the OIG, focused on hospice care in the nursing home, as several previous OIG reports have done. Then, this morning, an article by a Bloomberg News reporter brought much of the same OIG information out again in a more sensationalized, investigative fashion.

First and foremost, NHPCO strongly believes in the value of hospice care as the highest-quality care for patients and family caregivers struggling with serious and life-limiting illness. Furthermore, it is NHPCO’s belief that the overwhelming majority of U.S. hospices are committed to a shared vision to bring the best that humankind can offer to all those individuals facing serious illness, death and grief. Within that vision, however, is the duty of each provider to do the best job possible to ensure that every single patient day of care is within all regulatory and legal limits. NHPCO will not support any provider who fails to strive for the highest level of compliance and practice.

What we do is not easy. We share a sacred covenant with those we serve. In addition to bringing expert care, compassion and dignity to the dying and their family caregivers, we manage multifaceted organizations that are a significant part of the complex American healthcare system. The accomplishments we have made over the past forty years in changing the way we care for the dying is to be celebrated.

NHPCO statistics show more than 1.5 million dying American receive care every year – and this extends beyond Medicare beneficiaries to people of all ages, with an ever increasing number of complex illnesses. NHPCO’s comprehensive survey, the Family Evaluation of Hospice Care, shows 94% of family caregivers surveyed rated care as “very good to excellent.” Additionally, this research shows that if you ask 100 people who’ve had hospice care for a loved one if they’d recommend it to someone else, 98 of them are going to say yes. There are no professionals or volunteers better equipped to meet the unique needs of the dying than those found in the American hospice and palliative care community.

In recent years we have also improved our ability to serve people across all care settings and have made advances in reaching populations where hospice is underutilized. In the decades where we have made such progress, our model of care and the work of the interdisciplinary team has had a positive impact on many other sectors of healthcare.

I am so very proud to represent you and the hundreds of thousands dedicated individuals committed to caring for the dying and their family caregivers. These are the messages I consistently carry to the media and the public. And while it’s difficult to see my words not conveyed fully in the media, that does not diminish my faith in the work we are doing to raise awareness of the high quality care that the overwhelming majority of people receive. Our work at the national, state and local level with the media results in a constant stream of positive news stories and feature pieces that are published in every corner of the country (a selection of which we link in NewsBriefs each week). That said, it is unfortunate that negatively focused articles can lead to confusion and fear among the public, which in some cases may be an added barrier to care when it’s needed most.

Legally, we are not able to comment on specific lawsuits, nor can we talk about individual patient or employee situations. However we can and will continue our work helping providers ensure that the care at the bedside not only meets, but exceeds current regulations and standards.

Long before recent media attention, NHPCO has been committed to increasing quality and helping providers continuously improve performance. This includes:

• Calling for more consistent and timely regulatory oversight and surveys;
• Launching NHPCO’s innovative Quality Partners program;
• Developing a self-assessment program built on the ten foundation blocks of quality;
• Increasing the number of outcome measurement and data collection tools that are free to our members;
• Creating the most extensive set of compliance and regulatory tools and resources available in the hospice community for current regulatory requirements: From face-to-face and changes in the cost report, to the requirements reflected in the historic revision to the CMS hospice regulations, including the Medicare Hospice Conditions of Participation;
• Providing expert regulatory and compliance guidance to the field;
• Revising the landmark publication, Standards of Practice for Hospice Providers, to reflect the most up-to-date regulatory guidelines;
• Offering professional development opportunities onsite and via the Internet that bring expert training in a multitude of formats;
• Sharing best practices and allowing the nation’s hospice community to network and learn from one another in conferences, forums, e-groups, and more.

NHPCO is committed to serving the entire hospice and palliative care community. Among our membership are programs large and small, urban and rural, nonprofit and for-profit, government owned and faith-based, single site and multi-site, the variations go on, and this diversity enriches our organization and the field. Despite these differences our commitment to caring and excellence is the same.

In my thirty-five years as a hospice and palliative care leader (as a CEO and now in my role leading NHPCO and its affiliates) I’ve met thousands, of hospice professionals (both paid and volunteer) who share a commitment to excellence. To a person, they share the same beliefs – that the dying and their family caregivers deserve the very best care that humankind has to offer them. These passion-driven professionals bring compassion and dignity to people when fears are many and hope seems out of reach.

I hope you share these words of encouragement with your staff, volunteers, board members and supporters.

We will continue our ongoing work at NHPCO to reach out and inform, educate, advocate and build awareness about the quality care you provide.

Finally, let me reaffirm the work of NHPCO and assure you that we stand with you to make a difference in the lives of people who need the support and caring we provide.

J. Donald Schumacher, PsyD
President and CEO

For more information visit, http://www.nhpco.org