We Honor Veterans Campaign will Help Providers Care for Veterans at the End of Life

(NHPCO, Alexandria, VA) – It surprises many Americans to learn that 25 percent of all deaths in the US are Veterans. That’s 1,800 people a day; more than 680,000 Veterans every year. These heroic Americans deserve recognition for their military service – particularly at the end of life’s journey. A new resource will help healthcare professionals honor our Veterans.

National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization in collaboration with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), is launching We Honor Veterans, a pioneering campaign to help improve the care Veterans receive from hospice and palliative care providers.

By recognizing the unique needs of our nation’s Veterans who are facing a life-limiting illness, hospice and palliative care providers will be able to accompany and guide America’s Veterans and their families toward a more peaceful ending. And in cases where there might be some specific needs, related to the Veteran’s military service, combat experience or other traumatic events, providers will find tools to help support those they are caring for.

The resources of We Honor Veterans focus on respectful inquiry, compassionate listening, and grateful acknowledgment, coupled with Veteran-centric education of staff caring for Veterans.

“All hospices are serving Veterans but often aren’t aware of that person’s service in the armed forces,” said J. Donald Schumacher, NHPCO president and CEO. “Through We Honor Veterans we are taking a giant step forward in helping hospice and palliative care providers understand and serve Veterans at the end of life and work more effectively with VA medical facilities in their communities.”

Remarked Thomas Edes, VA Director of Home and Community Based Care “The VA shares a common goal with our nation’s hospices, and that is to provide the best possible care specifically tailored for Veterans, meeting their goals of care in their preferred setting. As we focus on working together and unite our services and skills, We Honor Veterans will channel our combined strengths directly to Veterans - wherever they are receiving care.”

“America’s Veterans have done everything asked of them in their mission to serve our country and we believe it is never too late to give them a hero’s welcome home. Now it is time that we step up, acquire the necessary skills and fulfill our mission to serve these men and women with the dignity they deserve,” added Schumacher.

A newly launched website, wehonorveterans.org, provides hospice and palliative care providers, state hospice organizations, and Hospice Veteran Partnerships with tools and resources that will encourage them to:

• Learn more about caring for Veterans;
• Declare a commitment to honoring Veterans at the end of life;
• Partner with VA at the local, regional and national level;
• Assess their current ability to serve Veterans;
• Provide education for hospice staff and volunteers;
• Measure quality and outcomes for continued improvement.

The We Honor Veterans campaign will provide tiered recognition to organizations that demonstrate a systematic commitment to improving care for Veterans. These “Partners” will assess their ability to serve Veterans and, using resources provided as part of the campaign, integrate best practices for providing end-of-life care to Veterans into their organization.

As Americans prepare to honor our nation’s heroes on Veterans Day, November 11, and pay tribute to the men and women who have served our country, NHPCO and the VA are proud to make this new resource available.

To learn more about We Honor Veterans or to support this important work, please visit wehonorveterans.org.

-###-

Media Contacts:
Jon Radulovic, 703-837-3139 or jradulovic@nhpco.org
or
Andy Duncan, 703-837-3145 or aduncan@nhpco.org

October 2010 Palliative Care Grand Rounds

The 2010 October Palliative Care Grand Rounds (PCGR), a "monthly blog carnival" highlighting blog post focusing on hospice, palliative care and grief matters, is being hosted this month by Palliatve- SW by SWHPN Blog. Check it out today!

The views expressed in the Palliative Care Grand Rounds are the sole responsibility of the authors of each blog highlighted and does not necessarily reflect the views of NHPCO, this blog or its editors.

Schumacher Quoted in Oncology Times

NHPCO's Don Schumacher is quoted in an article in Oncology Times, "Helping Prevent Suicide in Cancer Patients," (September 25, 2010 issue). The article by Robert Carlson begins:

"Oncologists who say they've never had a patient commit suicide simply might not know. The patient who doesn't return for treatment or reportedly died of an accidental drug overdose could have decided, in their suffering, that life was not worth living."

Dr. Schumacher offers some insight from his 30 years of running a hospice program. This is an informative article for oncologists and other healthcare providers.

Read the article online! What are you thoughts?

Researchers Find that Cancer Patients who Disenroll from Hospice have Increased Hospitalizations and are less likely to Die at Home

Disenrollment can have a Physical and Financial Toll

(Alexandria, Va) – According to a new study, patients with terminal cancer that disenrolled from hospice care had significantly higher rates of hospitalizations – including admission to the emergency department and intensive care unit – than patients who remained under the care of hospice. Furthermore, patients who disenrolled from hospice were more likely to die in the hospital than patients who remained with hospice until their deaths.

National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization hopes that healthcare professionals and policy makers will take time to look at this and other recent studies that help provide a better understanding of both the cost and quality-of-life benefits associated with the hospice experience, including honoring a patient’s wish to be able to die at home.

The study, which was led by researchers at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, found that:

• 33.9 percent of the patients who disenrolled from hospice care were admitted to an emergency department, in contrast with only 3.1 percent of hospice patients.
• 39.8 percent of disenrolled patients were admitted to the hospital as an inpatient, in contrast with only 1.6 percent of hospice patients.
• Disenrolled patients spent an average of 19.3 days in the hospital, whereas hospice patients spent an average of 6.7 days.
• 9.6 percent of disenrolled patients died in the hospital, compared to only 0.2 percent of hospice patients.
• Costs of care for patients with cancer who disenrolled from hospice were nearly five times higher than for patients who remained with hospice.

“Impact of Hospice Disenrollment on Healthcare Use and Medical Expenditures for Patients with Cancer” is published in the October 1, 2010 issue of Journal of Clinical Oncology.

“This study illustrates the tangible value of hospice care to patients who want to die at home, with the support of the hospice interdisciplinary team, surrounded by family rather than in a hospital connected to machines. There are significant emotional and financial benefits to the patient, family and healthcare system when hospices are caring for people,” said J. Donald Schumacher, NHPCO president and CEO. “In my 30 years running a hospice, I heard time and time again from families that wanted to keep their dying loved one at home.”

“There are numerous reasons why a patient may disenroll from hospice, and while those factors were not part of this study, we are reminded of the importance of advising patients and families as to the potential toll that might accompany leaving hospice care prematurely. A toll that may be physical, emotional, and financial,” added Schumacher.

Wrote the study authors, “Policy makers have called for tightening eligibility restrictions for the MHB (Medicare Hospice Benefit) as part of a wider effort to reduce high Medicare expenditures; our results suggest that addressing hospice disenrollment may be an effective means of reducing Medicare expenditures for hospice users without restriction access to the MHB.”

Further recommendations suggest that oncologists explore outpatient palliative care services that offer multidisciplinary care, symptom control, and end-of-life planning expertise in a context that enables a patient and family to maintain contact with the oncology clinic.

In his plenary address at NHPCO’s “Developing the Continuum of Care” conference held in Boston on August 5, Dr. Schumacher encouraged all hospice providers to explore ways that they can offer “pre-hospice” palliative care services in their communities and work with other providers to ensure patients and families have the right care at the right time from diagnosis on through bereavement for family.

More than 1.5 million patients with life-limiting illness receive care every year from the nation’s hospices.

Information about hospice and advance care planning is available from NHPCO’s Caring Connections. Visit caringinfo.org or call the HelpLine at 1-800-658-8898.

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.

-###-

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