Royalties from New Book by Judith Fox to Benefit Hospice

On September 3, a new book was released by the award-winning photographer and author, Judith Fox. One Foot Forward: Stories and Faces of Widows and Widowers explores the poignant stories and portraits of 20 widowed women and men who have grieved and persevered in the face of losing their spouses to sudden death and chronic illness.

Fox is donating 100 percent of her royalties from this book to the National HospiceFoundation.

Fox comes to this topic from deep personal experience. She lost her first husband, Jerry, to an aggressive cancer in 1992, and for the past 15 years has cared for and advocated on behalf of her second husband, Dr. Ed Ackell, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease just three years after they married.

In 1998, after a successful career as a business leader and entrepreneur in both New York and Virginia, Fox returned to an earlier career in photography. Her first book, I Still Do: Loving and Living with Alzheimer’s, focuses on both her and her husband’s experiences with the disease and caregiving.

She explains the impetus for creating One Foot Forward:  “Because I was widowed before, it’s difficult not to think about the pain that I know is ahead of me when Ed dies. Writing One Foot Forward was a way to find some personal comfort as Ed’s life is coming to an end. I wrote the book that would have helped me and I hope will help others.”

“Death is an inevitable—and very difficult—part of life. But if we are fortunate enough to love and to have a significant relationship, one of the individuals in the relationship is eventually going to be widowed. So we might as well learn to talk about death and grief, and understand what it’s like to live through,” said Fox.

Fox selected NHF as the recipient of her royalties because she believes in the hospice and palliative care mission and wants to support work at the national level. She notes further, “Both my parents benefited from hospice care and my husband is currently being helped—as am I—by compassionate people at The Elizabeth Hospice in San Diego.”

“We are overwhelmed at Judith’s generosity and commitment to support the work of the National Hospice Foundation,” noted J. Donald Schumacher, NHF president and CEO.

To learn more about Judith, her new book, One Foot Forward, and her other works, visit www.judithfox.com.

To order her book and support NHF, see One Foot Forward on Amazon.com.

Outcome Resources Helps Bring Advocates to the Intensive

Outcome Resources, a Pharmaceutical Benefit Manager (PBM) exclusively serving hospices, has helped many of NHPCO’s programs over the past five years.

Most recently, they have offered their support to the Foundation of Hospices in Sub-Saharan Africa’s “From San Diego to Africa” event as well as the National Hospice Foundation’s Run to Remember and the annual Gala. Their financial support for these events has allowed hospice patients and their families in both Africa and the United States to receive quality hospice care.

Dr. Martin McDonough founded Outcome Resources in 2000 to provide expertise to hospices on pain and symptom management. The firm helps hospices in reducing costs and increasing the quality of patient care. They have served as a very useful resource for NHPCO and our member hospices around the country. As Autumn Spence said in her opening remarks at the HAN Advocacy Intensive, everyone at Outcome Resources has a professional commitment to helping hospices succeed. This dedication shows in the satisfaction of customers nationwide.

This year, thanks to the generosity of Outcome Resources, ten advocates whose hospice programs would otherwise be unable to afford it were able to attend the Hospice Action Network’s Advocacy Intensive. HAN and NHPCO are incredibly grateful for their sponsorship.

The stories these advocates had to tell to their congressmen on the Hill, like all hospice stories, are very important, and if not for Outcome Resources, these stories would have gone unheard.

Penelope Gatlin from Outcome Resources with HAN Scholarship Recipients.

 

CMS Publishes Final Hospice Wage Index Rule - Many Provisions Included.

On Friday, August 2, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) posted the final FY2014 Hospice Wage Index rule.  This rule provides critically important information to providers on the following:

 1. Guidance on how hospices are to report multiple diagnoses on hospice claims
 2.Guidance on the discontinuation of the use of “debility” and “adult failure to thrive” as primary diagnoses
 3.Directives to MACs to begin the “Return to Provider” RTP process on and after October 1, 2014 for claims submitted with “debility” or “adult failure to thrive” as primary diagnoses
 4.Guidance on changes to coding for dementia diagnoses
 5.Guidance on changes in the requirements for hospice quality reporting, including discontinuation of data collection and reporting for the QAPI structural measure and NQF #0209
 6. Implementation of a Hospice Item Set (HIS) with seven National Quality Forum (NQF) endorsed measures, beginning July 1, 2014
 7.Implementation of a Hospice Experience of Care Survey beginning January 1, 2015
 8.Update on hospice payment reform

NHPCO members will find a comprehensive Regulatory Alert posted online.

Sens. Warner & Isakson Introduce Bipartisan Care Planning Act of 2013

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and Johnny Isakson (R-GA) introduced legislation today designed to give people with serious illness the freedom to make more informed choices about their care, and the power to have those choices honored. The Care Planning Act of 2013 creates a Medicare and Medicaid benefit for patient-centered care planning for people with serious illness. It will reimburse a team of healthcare professionals for providing a voluntary, structured discussion about the patient’s goals, illness, and treatment options. A written plan will reflect the informed choices made by patients in consultation with their health care team, faith leaders, family members and friends. The Care Planning Act also provides resources for public and professional education materials about care planning.

“When faced with a serious illness, you want the freedom to control how you will live. The Care Planning Act will help align the care you receive with the care you want – no more, no less,” Sen. Warner said. “People don't like to talk about sickness or death, and families tend to put off confronting what might happen if individuals become seriously ill or unable to make decisions about their own medical care. This patient-centered approach will help your doctors and your hospital know about the choices that you and your loved ones have made. If a patient prefers to explore every possible treatment option, that choice should be respected. And if an individual prefers a different approach after informed consultations with their health team, their family and others, those choices should be documented and honored, too.”

Read the full release on Senator Warner's website: http://www.warner.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/bloghome.

Make the Voice of Hospice Heard on Capitol Hill Today

The Hospice Action Network's Advocacy Intensive is in full swing.

Today is the day that more than 320 Congressional offices will meet with Hospice Advocates, hear their stories, and be asked to protect and support hospice! But before Hospice Advocates storm Capitol Hill, they will be energized at a Pep Rally featuring Congressman Tom Reed of New York, Congressman Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, and others! You can view the Pep Rally live at 8:45am ET by following this link.

Don’t forget: you can take part in the Advocacy Intensive from home! You can extend the reach of the message of the hospice community, by submitting an email to YOUR Members of Congress. The meetings Members of Congress will have today, combined with your email support of the same message, will together make our voices heard and stories remembered. Click here to send an email now!

Remember: HAN staff will be sharing updates throughout the day on Facebook and Twitter @HospiceAction, hashtag #AdvocacyIntensive! Cheer on your friends and colleagues, see how the day is going!

CMS Final Rule on Hospice Care in Nursing Homes

On Thursday, June 27, 2013 CMS published the final rule regarding requirements for long term care facilities when they enter into an agreement with a hospice to offer hospice services to residents of the facility.

This final rule is the long awaited companion to §418.112 of the Hospice Conditions of Participation, published in June 2008, that set forth the requirements for hospices when hospice care is provided in a SNF/NF or ICF/MR. This newly published final rule outlines the parallel regulations for long term care facilities (LTC facilities) when hospice care is provided to a LTC facility resident. CMS intent was to make the facility rule (§483.75(t)) as consistent with the hospice rule (§418.112) as possible to provide “regulatory clarity for both providers to eliminate duplication of and/or missing services.”

CMS states that the purpose of this rule is to “ensure the coordination of care for LTC facility residents who elect hospice services. The coordination of care is anticipated to result in better outcomes related to quality of care and quality of life for residents. With appropriate coordination of care, we anticipate improved outcomes through more efficient coordination of care between the LTC facility staff and hospice staff, a decrease in duplication of services provided, and improved resident care.”

Resources about the new rule are available from CMS:

• Nursing Home Surveyor guidance in Appendix PP for F309, Quality of Care.
• Survey and Certification Letter 12-48 NH
• Nursing Home Surveyor guidance in Appendix PP for F155, Advance Directives

Members of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization will find additional resources to help providers ensure compliance with the new rule.

2013 Advancing End-of-Life Care Access Award

NHPCO's Advancing End-of-Life Care Access Award recognizes provider initiatives that have significantly increased the type, scope, or range of services offered to and used by a traditionally underserved population.

Eligibility:  This award is open to NHPCO Provider Members.  The program to increase access must be fully implemented for more than 12 months and there must be data to demonstrate concrete outcomes.  Further, the program should be based on a project plan that defines the target population, objectives, strategies, outcome measurement, and intended impact.

Learn more on the NHPCO website.
http://www.nhpco.org/membership/2013-advancing-end-life-care-access-award