Category: Press Release

For Immediate Release:
October 31, 2024

(Washington, DC) – November marks the start of National Care at Home Month, a new observance created to honor the valuable contributions of home care providers nationwide and inspire outreach to communities, media, and policymakers. National Care at Home Month is spearheaded by the newly formed National Alliance for Care at Home (the Alliance), bringing together the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO). The Alliance harnesses the strengths of each legacy organization to represent, advocate for, educate, and connect home care, home health, hospice, and palliative care providers, helping them deliver the highest-quality care to patients and families in their homes and communities.

National Care at Home Month, like the new Alliance, honors the full continuum of care-at-home providers and the patients and families they serve. This community of providers is stronger together, and National Care at Home Month brings this message into public awareness. The month also offers an opportunity for providers and supporting organizations to come together and uplift one another, sharing stories of compassion and support, and highlighting the difference that care at home makes in people’s lives. 

“National Care at Home Month is an opportunity for our community to come together, celebrate and honor one another, and highlight the transformative care and support provided to patients and their loved ones across the US each day,” said Dr. Steve Landers, CEO for the Alliance. “Especially as we enter the holiday season, National Care at Home Month plays a critical role in increasing awareness and understanding of care-at-home options and encouraging individuals to engage in valuable advance care planning conversations with their families and loved ones during the holidays.”

National Care at Home Month is derived from the longstanding months of recognition within the care-at-home community – National Hospice and Palliative Care Month and National Home Care and Hospice Month. The observance also builds on the work of National Family Caregivers Month, recognizing the invaluable and underappreciated work of unpaid caregivers.

The Alliance encourages individuals and organizations to participate in its annual Social Media Action Day on Thursday, November 21, using the hashtags #CareatHomeMonth and #StrongerTogether. Alliance members also have access to a range of other National Care at Home Month outreach resources.

For more information on planning for and receiving care at home, visit the Alliance’s free consumer resource, CaringInfo.org.

About the National Alliance for Care at Home
The National Alliance for Care at Home (the Alliance) is a new national organization representing providers of home care, home health, hospice, palliative care, and other health care services mainly delivered in the home. The Alliance brings together two organizations with nearly 90 years of combined experience: NAHC and NHPCO. NAHC and NHPCO are in the process of combining operations to better serve members and lead into the future of care offered in the home. Learn more at www.AllianceForCareAtHome.org.

Press Contacts
communications@allianceforcareathome.org
Elyssa Katz | 571-281-0220
Thomas Threlkeld | 202-547-7424

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 1, 2024 

(Alexandria, VA and Washington, D.C.) – The National Alliance for Care at Home (the Alliance) is spearheading a national coalition of hospice, home health, and palliative care organizations to urge Congress to extend vital telehealth flexibilities that have enhanced both hospice and home health care across the United States. These flexibilities, which are set to expire at the end of 2024, have allowed providers to conduct face-to-face (F2F) recertification visits remotely, reducing administrative burdens and improving patient access to essential care services. 

The extension of these telehealth provisions is addressed in bipartisan and bicameral legislation, including H.R. 8261 – the Preserving Telehealth, Hospital, and Ambulance Access Act, which was unanimously passed out of the House of Representatives’ Ways & Means Committee earlier this year. Both hospice and home health communities have widely adopted these flexibilities, which have proven critical to improving the efficiency of care and patient outcomes. The Alliance calls on lawmakers to ensure that the F2F telehealth flexibility is included in any upcoming legislative package. 

“Telehealth has transformed care delivery in both hospice and home health, particularly in rural and underserved areas,” said Dr. Steve Landers, CEO for the Alliance. “Virtual F2F recertifications have freed up clinicians to focus more on urgent patient care and this flexibility has allowed providers to continue serving patients efficiently and safely. Both sectors have seen improvements in access to care and a reduction in unnecessary travel burdens for providers and families.” 

The Alliance remains steadfast in advocating for the swift extension of these telehealth provisions to ensure that providers can continue delivering high-quality, patient-centered care. The coalition’s letter, signed by 39 national and state organizations, underscores the importance of these flexibilities in maintaining access to care, especially for vulnerable populations. 

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About the National Alliance for Care at Home
The National Alliance for Care at Home (the Alliance) is a new national organization representing providers of home care, home health, hospice, palliative care, and other health care services mainly delivered in the home. The Alliance brings together two organizations with nearly 90 years of combined experience: NAHC and NHPCO. NAHC and NHPCO are in the process of combining operations to better serve members and lead into the future of care offered in the home. Learn more at  www.AllianceForCareAtHome.org.  

Press Contacts
Elyssa Katz, NHPCO Marketing and Communications Manager 
ekatz@nhpco.org | 571-281-0220 

Thomas Threlkeld, NAHC Director of Communications
tom@nahc.org   | 202-547-7424 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 26, 2024 

(Alexandria, VA and Washington, D.C.) — The National Alliance for Care at Home (the Alliance), a new national organization formed by the integration of the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) recognizes the introduction of the Hospice Care Accountability, Reform, and Enforcement (CARE) Act, by Congressman Earl Blumenauer (OR-3).  

The Alliance shares Rep. Blumenauer’s desire to update the Medicare hospice benefit to address the evolving needs of our country’s aging population while ensuring the sustainability and integrity of the hospice program. As a long-standing champion of hospice care, Rep. Blumenauer has consistently demonstrated a commitment to ensuring that hospice services remain accessible, compassionate, and of the highest quality for patients and their families. The Alliance appreciates Rep. Blumenauer’s commitment to involving a diverse group of stakeholders in developing this legislation and will continue to work closely with congressional leaders on the finer points of the proposed bill to ensure that the final legislation supports the needs of patients, families, and providers alike. 

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About the National Alliance for Care at Home: 
The National Alliance for Care at Home (the Alliance) is a new national organization representing providers of home care, home health, hospice, palliative care, and other health care services mainly delivered in the home. The Alliance brings together two organizations with nearly 90 years of combined experience: NAHC and NHPCO. NAHC and NHPCO are in the process of combining operations to better serve members and lead into the future of care offered in the home. Learn more at www.AllianceForCareAtHome.org.  

Press Contacts:
Elyssa Katz, NHPCO Marketing and Communications Manager 
ekatz@nhpco.org | 571-281-0220 

Thomas Threlkeld, NAHC Director of Communications
tom@nahc.org   | 202-547-7424 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 19, 2024
Photo Link 

NHPCO and the National Alliance for Care at Home Celebrate Healthcare Leader and Volunteer Award Honorees at Final NHPCO Conference

(Alexandria, VA) – This week, the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) and the new National Alliance for Care at Home (the Alliance) honored standout members of the hospice and palliative care community during the 2024 NHPCO Annual Leadership Conference in Denver, Colorado.

Award presentations began on Sunday, September 15 with the NHPCO Founders Awards, honoring exceptional individuals whose pioneering vision, leadership, and innovative spirit have significantly contributed to the advancement and success of the hospice and palliative care community. The NHPCO Founders Award was presented to Susan Lloyd, Chief Executive Officer for Delaware Hospice, Chair of the Hospice Action Network (HAN) board, and member of the Alliance Transition Board, and Sandy Kuhlman, Chief Executive Officer for Hospice Services of Northwest Kansas.

On Monday, award presentations continued with the Dr. Bernice Catherine Harper Trailblazer Award, honoring a member who exemplifies Dr. Harper’s spirit of innovation and compassion, commitment to advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, and passion for providing high-quality, culturally appropriate, person-centered services. The award was presented to the Cultural Diversity Team of the MJHS Health System, in New York, New York.

NHPCO’s We Honor Veterans program presented two awards. The Outstanding Program Award, recognizing the extraordinary investment, commitment, and achievement of hospice organizations providing high-quality, end-of-life care to Veterans and their families, was awarded to Geisinger Hospice in Danville, Pennsylvania, a Level 5 We Honor Veterans Partner. The inaugural 2024 We Honor Veterans Leadership Award, recognizing an exceptional leader and longtime partner of the We Honor Veterans Program, was presented to Scott Shreve of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The 2024 Volunteers are the Foundation of Hospice Awards wrapped up Monday’s award presentations. These awards recognize hospice volunteers who embody the concept of volunteerism at the heart of hospice; improving the patient experience and serving as an inspiration to others. The Furst Group and NuBrick Partners sponsored this year’s volunteer awards, and the MyNHPCO Awards Committee led the selection process. The 2024 recipients of the Volunteers are the Foundation of Hospice Awards are:

Organizational Support Award:

Richard D. Bressler
Weinstein Hospice – Atlanta, GA

Patient and Family Service Award:

Morag Hunt
Hospice del Valle – Alamosa, CO

Specialized Volunteer Service Award:

Krysta Cash
St. Catherine Hospice – Garden City, KS

We Honor Veterans Volunteer Service Award:

Linda Collins
Empath Tidewell Hospice – Englewood, FL

Young Leader Service Award:

Madison Helmick
Empath Tidewell Grief Care Blue Butterfly – Sarasota, FL

Tuesday morning served as a time to honor and celebrate the legacy of NHPCO Board members who successfully stewarded the organization over 46 years since its founding. Those who most recently served on the Board – who led during an important time of transformation as NHPCO decided to integrate with the National Association for Home Care & Hospice to form the National Alliance for Care at Home – were specifically honored:

Melinda Gruber, Chair
Tarrah Lowry, Vice Chair
Samira Beckwith
Pete Brunnick
Trisha Crissman
Ronald Crossno
Carla Davis
Jim Deal
Liz Fowler
Stacy Groff
Katy Lanz
Susan Lloyd
Ben Marcantonio
Christine McMichael
Norman McRae
Sarah McSpadden
Bob Parker
Clevis Parker
Joe Rogers
Lynne Sexten
Terri Warren
Nick Westfall
Tracy Wood
Kristen Yntema

Ben Marcantonio, Chief Integration Office for the Alliance, was also presented with the Visionary Leadership Award to recognize the impact his leadership has had during his tenure with NHPCO and will continue to have in the Alliance. Future Alliance conferences will feature a Visionary Leadership speaker to reinforce his passion and mission.

During the conference at the National Hospice Foundation’s 2024 Gala on Tuesday evening, Melinda Gruber, Vice President of Medical Group and Rehabilitation Services, Corewell Health Southwest Michigan, Vice Chair of the Alliance Transition Board, and Samira Beckwith, Executive Vice President for Chapters Health System, were each honored with the Galen Miller Leadership Award. The Galen Miller Leadership Award, created in memory of NHPCO’s Executive Vice President, is presented to hospice champions who exhibit the same dedication and passion for the hospice and palliative care community that Galen Miller did.

The Healthcare Architect Awards were also presented at the Gala, recognizing individuals who have significantly impacted the delivery and accessibility of hospice and palliative care. Carla Davis, Senior Vice President of Hospice and Palliative Care Operations for LHC Group and HAN Board member, and Bob Parker, Chief Clinical Officer for Kindful Health and Alliance Transition Board member, were each honored.

On Wednesday, September 18, the conference closed with the Heart of Hospice Awards, honoring colleagues who lead by example, positively impacting care and services and instilling the core values of hospice in all that they do. Ronald Crossno, Chief Medical Officer for Gentiva, and Bernice Burkarth, Chief Medical Officer for Tufts Medicine Care at Home, accepted the award.

As NHPCO evolves into the National Alliance for Care at Home, the final Annual Leadership Conference served as an important milestone to recognize, honor, and celebrate the many leaders from across the nation who played critical roles in advancing the hospice and palliative care community. The National Alliance for Care at Home will continue the important work of these innovators.

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About NHPCO
The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) is the nation’s largest and oldest membership association for providers who care for people affected by serious and life-limiting illness. Our members deliver and expand access to high-quality, person-centered interdisciplinary care to millions of Americans. NHPCO provides education and resources to support that mission. Together with our advocacy partner, the Hospice Action Network (HAN), we advance public policy to improve serious-illness and end-of-life care, while our CaringInfo program provides free resources to educate and empower patients and caregivers. NHPCO is currently in the process of joining with the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) to form the National Alliance for Care at Home.

About the National Alliance for Care at Home
The National Alliance for Care at Home (the Alliance) is a new national organization representing providers of home care, home health, hospice, palliative care, and other health care services mainly delivered in the home. The Alliance brings together two organizations with nearly 90 years of combined experience: NAHC and NHPCO. NAHC and NHPCO are in the process of combining operations to better serve members and lead into the future of care offered in the home. Learn more at www.AllianceForCareAtHome.org.

Press Contact
Elyssa Katz, NHPCO Marketing and Communications Manager
ekatz@nhpco.org | 571-281-0220

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 26, 2024

(Alexandria, VA and Washington, DC) — Steven Landers, MD, MPH, has been named the inaugural Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the newly merged NAHC-NHPCO Alliance (The Alliance). A recognized national leader and innovator in home health, primary care and aging services, Dr. Landers brings almost two decades of experience as a physician, executive leader and health policy advocate to The Alliance, which represents care at home and community providers across the country.

Dr. Landers has dedicated his career to seeking home- and community-based health care solutions for people of all ages. As a board-certified physician in family medicine, geriatric medicine, and hospice and palliative medicine, he is a champion of the impactful role health care at home plays in the health and wellbeing of communities, acknowledging that as an aging nation, providing compassionate, dignified and cost-effective systems of care to patients is critical.

“The Alliance members provide a wide range of high-quality home- and community-based services that promote comfort, dignity and independence. I’m so proud to become a part of this organization, and am eager to serve,” said Dr. Landers. “I’ve had the opportunity in my career to see the health care industry from many vantage points, and in this new role with The Alliance, I will use all that I have learned to make a difference for our members as we continue to expand to meet the growing public needs for our care.”

Prior to joining The Alliance, Dr. Landers served in several executive leadership roles. He was the director of home care at the Cleveland Clinic, and for more than 11 years was the president and CEO of the Visiting Nurse Association Health Group, Inc. — one of the oldest, largest and highly respected home health, hospice and community health organizations in the country. During his most recent tenure as the president and CEO of Hebrew SeniorLife, he led an organization known for superior senior living, geriatric health care, research and teaching.

Dr. Landers has served on numerous boards and committees in the care at home space and has represented organizations by engaging policymakers, including meeting with members of Congress; providing committee testimonies for Congress and state legislatures; and discussing home care policies and regulations with the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Medicare Payment Advisory Commission officials, and federal agency staff.

“Providing leadership around policy and advocacy efforts is critical to our mission at The Alliance,” said Transition Board Chair Ken Albert. “Throughout his career, Dr. Landers served the field as an effective policy advocate, shaping policy at both the state and federal levels. We are thrilled to welcome him as our inaugural CEO, and I know he will build an extraordinary team to offer value for our members.”

Early in his career, Dr. Landers based his clinical practice on providing health care through house calls and thousands of home visits, primarily to low-mobility patients. While in this setting, he saw the need to connect home care and hospice to the broader health care system and medical community. He understood that to improve patient care, health care providers need to explore and thrive at the intersection of clinical work, health policy and systems of care. He pursued a master’s degree in public health, which contributed to his passion for influencing federal and state legislation to improve health care delivery to home-based patients.

“Dr. Landers’ rich and diversified experience makes him the ideal candidate to lead our membership as our organization evolves,” said Alliance Transition Board Vice Chair Melinda Gruber. “Working alongside community health workers and within our patients’ homes, he understands what we need as frontline caregivers and advocates.”

Dr. Landers is a graduate of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, where his training included a family medicine residency at Case Western and a geriatric medicine fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic. He also attended the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where he focused on health policy and management. Additionally, he received a bachelor of arts in political science from Indiana University in Bloomington.

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About the NAHC-NHPCO Alliance

The NAHC-NHPCO Alliance brings together the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO), two organizations with more than 90 years of combined experience serving providers of quality care in the home to form one new association. This historic alliance creates a national organization representing providers of home care, home health, hospice, and palliative care, forming the most powerful voice and resource the care-at-home community has seen. The integration process underway is expected to continue through the beginning of 2025. While leadership explores a permanent name, the new organization is operating under the interim name the NAHC-NHPCO Alliance. Find the latest on the NAHC and NHPCO websites.

Press Contacts
Elyssa Katz, NHPCO Marketing and Communications Manager
ekatz@nhpco.org  |  571-281-0220
Thomas Threlkeld, NAHC Director of Communications
tom@nahc.org   |  202-547-7424

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
AUGUST 19, 2024 

(Alexandria, VA and Washington, DC) –The leading national organization for hospice and other providers delivering healthcare predominantly in homes, the NAHC-NHPCO Alliance, responded to a segment about hospice that first aired on the HBO and Max current events satire show, “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” on Sunday, August 18. While the show made some good points about the invaluable work done by hospice workers to care for patients at the end of their lives, we believe the segment missed an opportunity to educate patients and their families on the value of hospice and how to find the right hospice provider to meet their needs. It also overlooked the central role played by the hospice community to ensure proper care is delivered and bad actors are driven out of the Medicare hospice program.  

The number of Americans choosing hospice for end-of-life care has grown significantly over the last 25 years and the hospice benefit now serves approximately 1.72 million Medicare beneficiaries annually. The growth of the hospice benefit is the result of millions of families who have benefited enormously from the comprehensive, team-based, and patient-oriented care provided by hospice. There are several thousand dedicated, mission-driven, patient centered hospices that provide essential and comprehensive, high-quality services every day across the country. They stand in partnership with Medicare to ensure that patients get the care they need in a manner fully compliant with Medicare requirements.    

Unfortunately, just as fraud exists in all segments of our healthcare system, there is fraud that targets the Medicare hospice benefit and harms patients. The issue has received more attention in recent years based both on media coverage and on the advocacy efforts of the hospice community, which universally wants to see the end to fraud. For five years, we have been working closely with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and Congress to develop and effectively implement regulations that root out fraud, protect patients, and ensure the ongoing value and viability of the Medicare hospice benefit. After years of work by NAHC and NHPCO, two legacy organizations coming together to form a new national organization, in cooperation with lawmakers, Congress passed the HOSPICE Act in December of 2020 to address the concerns raised by the “Last Week Tonight” segment. Importantly, virtually all the examples of questionable practices included in the segment were from the 2010s, prior to passage of the HOSPICE Act.  

In January of 2023, even as the provisions of the HOSPICE Act were beginning to be implemented, the predecessors to the NAHC-NHPCO Alliance – National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) – as well as two other national organizations, joined together to make 34 recommendations to Congress and CMS for additional steps that could be taken to protect patients, families, and the Hospice Benefit. While there is still work to do, we are pleased that today half those recommendations have been enacted. 

Every American who qualifies for hospice and wants the service should be able to access quality care.  

As Last Week Tonight mentioned, word of mouth in choosing a hospice can be very helpful, as can Medicare’s quality rating system. It’s also important to learn what services the hospice offers, and how those align to the patient’s goals and values. The Alliance recommends having conversations with potential providers to ask questions. Valuable resources for selecting a hospice are available from nahc.org, nhpco.org, and CaringInfo.org. 

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About the NAHC-NHPCO Alliance 
The NAHC-NHPCO Alliance brings together the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO), two organizations with more than 90 years of combined experience serving providers of quality care in the home to form one new association. This historic alliance creates a national organization representing providers of home care, home health, hospice, and palliative care, forming the most powerful voice and resource the care-at-home community has seen. The integration process underway is expected to continue through the beginning of 2025. While leadership explores a permanent name, the new organization is operating under the interim name the NAHC-NHPCO Alliance. Find the latest on the NAHC and NHPCO websites. 

Press Contacts
Elyssa Katz, NHPCO Marketing and Communications Manager
ekatz@nhpco.org  |  571-281-0220
Thomas Threlkeld, NAHC Director of Communications
tom@nahc.org   |  202-547-7424