NHPCO's 11th CTC is the best value!

It's not too late to attend! Make a sound investment in your professional education!

With over 120 concurrent sessions, innovative content from leading experts and best practices that you can take back to your program and advance your level of care, NHPCO’s 11th CTC offers the best value for hospice and palliative professionals from all disciplines.

Advanced Registration Rates are extended! While online registration has closed, you can still register onsite and receive the advance registration rate!

Experience all NHPCO’s 11th CTC has to offer:

• Four powerhouse plenary sessions
• Over 120 educational sessions
• Regulatory and Pediatric Tracks
• Discipline-Specific Networking Meetings
• NHPCO's Job Fair and over 70 Exhibitors with new products and services
• Discounted Marketplace items with opportunity for FREE SHIPPING
• FREE Full-Day Preconference Seminar – We Honor Veterans
• FREE Preconference Event - Hearing the Voices of "The Soon Departed
• Poster Presentations
• Discounted FHSSA IMPACT Fund Event ticket prices

Plus – Your conference registration includes a daily continental breakfast, 2 lunches and a reception featuring heavy hors d’oeuvres.

Additional Educational Opportunities:

• Hospice Manager Development Program- Foundational Course
• Seven Preconference Seminars

Attend this year’s Clinical Team Conference and Pediatric Intensive, September 13-15. Visit the CTC webpage for more information.

August 2010 ChiPPS Newsletter Released

NHPCO’s Children’s Project on Palliative/Hospice Services has just released the new issue of its newsletter. This issue of the ChiPPS newsletter offers a PDF collection of articles that illustrate the importance of memory making and legacy building in pediatric palliative and hospice care. A message from NHPCO President and CEO J. Donald Schumacher was included – and is shared below.

(Download the PDF collection of articles)

A Message from Don Schumacher

On August 2, I opened NHPCO’s conference, Developing the Care Continuum, with a discussion about the importance of hospice and palliative care in the continuum of care. I wanted to share just a few thoughts with the readers of the ChiPPS newsletter.

I think many people would agree that the US healthcare system is quite fragmented – hence the importance of creating a continuum that includes hospice and palliative care. This must include pediatric palliative care.

Pediatric care has always been near to my heart and as quality-driven providers, we should be able to support the needs and/or assist in care coordination of all those coping serious and life-limiting illness – this includes children, adolescents, and their family members.

I recognize that pediatric palliative care is something many providers feel uncomfortable offering, but it is something we should understand more fully. We must expand our skill set and explore what resources are available to families in the communities we serve. I commend the work of the Children’s Project for Palliative/Hospice Services in developing new tools and resources to move the field forward.

Pediatric palliative care was specifically addressed in the health care reform legislation passed this year. This was a provision that NHPCO strongly lobbied for. The law allows children who are enrolled in either Medicaid or CHIP to receive hospice services without foregoing curative treatment related to a life-limiting illness. This should provide for a more seamless continuum.

When there is a seamless care continuum, providers work together to develop a coordinated plan that addresses all the needs of the patient and family caregivers. Those of you involved in pediatric palliative care know all too well that the needs of these seriously ill young people and families encompass physical, emotional, social, spiritual, nutritional and financial as well as practical and logistical needs. Care and services should be coordinated by professionals who understand the range of options available and appropriate in each situation.

I also want to stress that the concept of the care continuum is not – indeed, cannot be – solely geared to hospice providers. I know there are many hospice professionals working with ChiPPS but there are many others representing a range of provider types and disciplines, and we all must be involved with the development of the care continuum. Working together towards the creation of a seamless continuum will require us to collaborate and partner in a more expansive way than we’ve ever seen in the hospice community.

I believe that every single hospice provider needs to offer non-hospice palliative care. If you do not, somebody else will. Hospices are the experts in serious and life-limiting illness in their communities and they must be leaders in developing a seamless continuum of care.

So what I’m hoping is that hospices in the United States, in addition to the wonderful things they already do providing care in the last months of life, will become more visible and available as providers of or experts in pediatric palliative care.

Thank you for all you do to advance care for young people and their families.

J. Donald Schumacher, PsyD
NHPCO President and CEO

Research Shows Patients May Live Longer with Hospice and Palliative Care

NHPCO Reminds People They Can Ask Physicians for Palliative Care

(Alexandria, Va) – A new study released by the New England Journal of Medicine found that among patients with non-small-cell lung cancer, those who received palliative care lived, on average, almost two months longer than those who received standard care. Researchers also found that the patients receiving palliative care reported a higher quality of life through the final course of their illness.

The goals of palliative care are to improve the quality of a seriously ill person’s life and to support that person and their family during and after treatment. Sharing the same philosophy of hospice care which is usually provided in the final months of life, palliative care may be provided at any stage during a serious or life-limiting illness.

Researchers also found that when patients received palliative care services, they were also more likely to elect hospice services.

"With earlier referral to a hospice program, patients may receive care that results in better management of symptoms, leading to stabilization of their condition and prolonged survival," wrote the authors of the study released Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine.

This new study adds to the body of evidence showing that many patients live longer with hospice and palliative care.

A 2007 study that looked at Medicare beneficiaries with some of the most common diagnoses leading to death, found that patients who received hospice services lived on average, 29 days longer than those who did not receive hospice care. This study, published in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management (March 2007) looked at 4,493 terminally ill patients with either congestive heart failure or cancer of the breast, colon, lung, pancreas, or prostate.

In an earlier study looking at patients with 16 of the most common terminal diagnoses, researchers found that hospice patients lived longer. On average, this ranged from 20 days for those with a diagnosis of gallbladder cancer to 69 days for the cohort of breast cancer patients (JPSM, September 2004).

“There’s an inaccurate perception among the American public that hospice means you’ve given up,” said J. Donald Schumacher, president and CEO of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. “Those of us who have worked in the field have seen firsthand how hospice and palliative care can improve the quality of and indeed prolong the lives of people receiving care.”

NHPCO encourages all families who are diagnosed with a serious illness to ask their healthcare providers about hospice and palliative care services.

“The time to learn about these services is before a person is in a medical crisis. Patients and families must learn about these options of care as soon as possible,” Schumacher added.

Both hospice and palliative care focus on helping a person with a serious or life-limiting illness by addressing issues causing physical or emotional pain, or suffering. Hospice and other palliative care providers have teams of people working together to provide care.

More information about hospice and palliative care is available online at caringinfo.org or by calling the HelpLine at 800-658-8898.

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Contact:
Jon Radulovic
NHPCO, Vice President of Communications
Ph: 703-837-3139
jradulovic@nhpco.org

Promising Steps

I am heading to our conference on “Developing the Care Continuum” next week and I’m looking forward to what I know will be some thoughtful, forward-thinking discussions. Devoting an entire event to exploring the various ways we can become more visible, more available, and more valuable to the people in our communities is, in itself, a forward-thinking strategy—and also very timely.

Greater attention will be placed on improving care coordination and eliminating duplicative services as the health reform law is implemented over the next several years. All hospices, not just a select few, need to begin thinking, planning, and taking steps toward greater collaboration or the diversification of their services if they want to grow their census. Palliative care is certainly one option that is already on the rise in hospitals. However, other services are also helping hospices to establish relationships with patients and other providers earlier in the life cycle. In the coming weeks, NHPCO will make available both webcasts and session tapes from the conference to help members who were unable to attend.

Be mindful, too, of the positive steps that are also being taken here in Washington (yes, Washington!):

• From our conversations with Senator Ron Wyden, we know the Concurrent Care Demonstration Project is now taking shape. This three-year project, which will be conducted by CMS, will monitor patients at 15 different hospice programs who will be permitted to receive other Medicare-covered services as well as hospice care. The goal is to evaluate the impact of concurrent care on the patient and family’s quality of life as well as the cost of care. It has the potential to strengthen the bridge between hospice and palliative care—and may be another good reason to consider a partnership or expansion into palliative care.
• Undaunted by the ‘death panel’ debacle of last summer, Representative Earl Blumenauer has also re-introduced legislation calling for Medicare and Medicaid to cover voluntary consultations about end-of-life care planning between patients and their physicians. NHPCO worked with the Congressman to help advance this valuable legislation, including a formal letter of support.

I know that running a hospice program today is not easy, given the regulatory and economic challenges of our times. As one colleague admitted, “it’s easy to get stuck in the weeds.” But it is far too critical a time to let that happen. This new decade holds much promise—if we are all poised and ready to be part of it.

Don

FY2011 Wage Index and Tools for NHPCO Members Now Available

CMS has posted the FY2011 hospice rates and aggregate cap. NHPCO offers members two important tools.

1) FY2011 Excel spreadsheet with the FY2011 wage index and the FY2011 rates for each county in each state.
2) FY2011 rate calculator that projects the wage index values and rates through FY2019. The calculator also allows you to project a percentage growth in your hospice's census for each year.

Links to these tools are available on the Wage Index page of NHPCO's website. Here's a link to the Regulatory Alert that went out to members on July 26, 2010.

Additionally, the PDF of CR7077 is available on the CMS website.

Don Schumacher Interviewed on Marketplace

President/CEO Don Schumacher was interviewed on public radio’s Marketplace about current issues in end-of-life care. Produced by American Public Media, Marketplace is broadcast internationally and is available online. Part one, of “End of life care: More or less of it?” was broadcast 07/20/10.

Part two of the story, “Better Training for Better End-of-Life Care,” looks at palliative care and visits San Diego Hospice and Institute for Palliative Medicine. Marketplace links to materials from NHPCO’s Caring Connections as helpful resources.

The story also features a photo slide show.

A Time to Take Pause

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