Tag: 2024 Press Releases

For Immediate Release
February 27, 2024

(Alexandria, Va) – In 2023, the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) hosted the Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) series, Equity Where It Matters, consisting of bimonthly sessions on a wide variety of topics related to increasing access to equitable serious illness and end-of-life care. Participants in the program who attended at least seventy-percent of the sessions and completed program evaluation requirements earned an NHPCO Health Equity Certificate.

Project ECHO is an innovative program designed to create virtual groups of learners by bringing together healthcare providers, subject matter experts, and the wider community using case-based learning and fostering an “all teach, all learn” approach. Recognizing that diversity expands across many dimensions of our identity, the curriculum focused on inclusive topics addressing various aspects of diversity and cultural competence in healthcare.

NHPCO recognizes individuals who have earned the 2023 Health Equity Certificate:

1. 1. 1. Stefanie Hansberry, Hospice of Southern Illinois, Inc.
      2. Kristopher Halsey, VITAS Healthcare
      3. Stacy Orloff, Empath Health
      4. Hope Walke, Empath Health
      5. Leslie Conner, Housecall Providers
      6. Ervilene Kuhlman, Hospice of San Angelo, Inc.
      7. Martha Young, Ecumen Hospice
      8. Sherry Coval, Empath Health
      9. Sandy Nelson, Hospice of Holland
      10. William Matthews, Empath Health

“Project ECHO empowers providers and communities through access to knowledge. Health equity and cultural competency are central to the delivery of high-quality care for all, and NHPCO is committed to ensuring our members and the broader hospice and palliative care community have access to the most up to date resources and information,” said Aparna Gupta, VP of Quality at NHPCO.

NHPCO is also recognized as an official “Superhub” of Project ECHO, joining the ranks of more than 25 organizations with the designation worldwide. As a Superhub, NHPCO facilitators are authorized to train new ECHO to grow and develop their own programs.

In 2024, NHPCO is resuming Project ECHO sessions in a new, miniseries format taking deep dives across diverse topics. The first miniseries is hosted in collaboration with the Alzheimer’s Association, focusing on supporting and enhancing the ability of providers across the continuum to understand the unique needs of persons living with various facets of cognitive impairment. The miniseries will consist of seven weekly sessions held on Thursdays, 3-4 p.m. ET from March 7 through April 18 and is open to NHPCO members and the greater hospice and palliative care community. Register for the miniseries. For more information on NHPCO’s program, visit the Project ECHO webpage.

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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 serve as the leading voice advancing 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.org

Press Contact
Elyssa Katz
NHPCO Communications
571-281-0220

For Immediate Release
February 13, 2024

Opens Enrollment for the 2024 Program Year

(Alexandria, Va) – The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) recognizes the achievements of participating member organizations who have earned rings in the third program year of NHPCO’s Quality Connections program. First launched in January 2021, Quality Connections (QC) is the only national program designed to support hospice and palliative care provider delivery of high-quality, person-centered care. The program is structured around four fundamental pillars which are represented by four rings: Education, Application, Measurement, and Innovation.

QC participants are required to achieve milestones within defined timeframes by participating in activities such as quarterly data reporting and benchmarking, educational courses, case studies, and engagement on emerging issues such as diversity, access, and inclusion, all of which serve to promote high-quality care delivery and service excellence. Achievement in the program is measured by completing activities within each of the four foundational areas, culminating in the closure of up to four rings.

NHPCO is proud to celebrate participants in the 2023 program year who collectively closed 361 achievement rings. Of the 300 participating programs, 83 organizations earned top recognition as a “four rings” program. Notably, four-ring achievement increased nearly fourfold from 2022, with the number of organizations closing rings increasing by nearly twenty percent and the total rings achieved increasing by eighty-nine percent.

“High-quality care delivery is the cornerstone of any successful hospice or palliative care program. NHPCO is the national leader in supporting providers in continuous quality improvement, and Quality Connections is a core part NHPCO’s quality resources. Providers who participate in the program are constantly evolving to better serve their communities and stay up to date with quality best practices. We look forward to welcoming a new cohort of providers and welcoming back returning providers as we begin the 2024 program year,” said NHPCO Vice President of Quality, Aparna Gupta.

QC is an exclusive NHPCO member benefit. The program cycle resets each year to ensure focused and effective continuous quality improvement. Program year 2024 begins on February 16, 2024 with over twenty-five percent new or updated content since the previous year, including activities related to advocacy and legislative action, survey preparedness, patient safety, and more.

Organizations interested in enrolling in the program can find more information on the Quality Connections webpage to start their quality improvement journey.

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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 serve as the leading voice advancing 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.org

Press Contact
Elyssa Katz
NHPCO Communications
571-281-0220

 

For Immediate Release
January 30, 2024

(Alexandria, VA) – The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization’s (NHPCO) Diversity Advisory Council (DAC) published Culturally Sensitive Communications to Enhance Care Delivery: A Resource Guide for Healthcare Professionals. This guide offers linguistic considerations to support diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in health, hospice, and palliative care. It contains information from a multitude of NHPCO resources, such as the Hospice Through The DEI Lens report, Inclusion and Access Toolkit, Black and African American Outreach Guide, Chinese American Resource Guide, Latino Outreach Guide, and LGBTQ+ Resource Guide, as well as information from additional external research sources.

Key findings and recommendations include:

• • • Some common language used in conversation can have a negative effect on the patient experience and create a barrier to engaging hospice care.
    • It is important for clinicians and community support members to familiarize themselves with fundamental American Sign Language skills as 80% of individuals aged 80 and above encounter hearing loss, along with 63% of those aged 70 and older.
    • Utilizing culturally sensitive language is integral to aiding in the completion of advance care planning materials and providing a high-quality patient experience.

NHPCO COO and Interim CEO, Ben Marcantonio, said, “For the last two decades, we’ve continued to see white Americans choosing hospice at higher rates than Hispanic, Black, Asian, and Native Americans. This guide provides best practices for culturally sensitive communication in healthcare, recognizing that advancing health equity through language is an essential aspect of promoting inclusive and accessible healthcare practice.”

NHPCO DAC Chair, Nicole McCann-Davis, said, “Through this language guide, our goal is to provide information, guidance, and technical expertise to all providers, especially those serving diverse communities, that will advance health equity in end-of-life care. We aim to create a common lexicon, enable organizations to operate from the same values, and foster diverse, equitable, and inclusive approaches.”

To access the guide and other NHPCO DEI resources, visit nhpco.org/diversity.

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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 serve as the leading voice advancing 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.org

Press Contact
Elyssa Katz
NHPCO Communications
571-281-0220

For Immediate Release
January 12, 2024

 MedPAC Commissioners Abandon their Previous Recommendation to Cut Payment Cap

(Alexandria, VA) – The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) today commented on the hospice implications of the public meeting of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) held yesterday, as well as MedPAC’s hospice workplan, which has been presented at previous MedPAC meetings.

During yesterday’s public meetings, the MedPAC Commissioners unanimously voted in favor of the Chair’s hospice recommendation, which will be included in the Commission’s report to Congress in March 2024. While MedPAC is not a policy-setting body, its recommendations do bear weight among policymakers and lawmakers. For the first time in five years, MedPAC will not recommend a cut to the hospice aggregate payment cap, which is a per-patient limit on the payments a hospice provider can receive for delivering care.

“MedPAC’s shift away from its previous recommendations to cut the aggregate payment cap is a win for hospices, patients, and families,” said NHPCO Interim CEO, Ben Marcantonio. “For nearly five years, NHPCO and our members have publicly and privately made it clear that cutting the hospice aggregate cap would likely reduce access to hospice care by forcing some providers to close and incentivizing hospices to discharge patients after 180 days of care. We are gratified that Congress never acted on the cap cut concept. Further, we appreciate that MedPAC has heard our concerns, and that its next report to Congress will not include the recommendation.”

On the other hand, NHPCO is disappointed by MedPAC’s recommendation to Congress that hospice reimbursement rates for patient care should not be updated in 2025, although by law hospice payment rates are pegged to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) inpatient hospital market basket rate. Hospices continue to face rising cost pressures, and NHPCO has previously advocated to update the market basket rate for hospices as these rates do not reflect the unique situation hospice providers are in.

Marcantonio commented, “At a time when costs have been increasing across the board and hospices are competing for a limited healthcare workforce, keeping hospice payments flat would put the squeeze on hospice providers even as patient demand for hospice care is expected to keep growing. In order to serve the American public, Congress should ensure hospice providers are reimbursed to provide the end-of-life care people want and deserve. We will continue working with MedPAC and Congressional leaders to ensure the hospice care model is not undermined by shortsighted recommendations.”

MedPAC’s hospice workplan outlines the work the Commission is doing to examine hospice spending, care delivery, and related topics now and in the years ahead. The plan cites important studies demonstrating the financial value of hospice care for Medicare, including the Value of Hospice research published in 2023 by NORC at the University of Chicago, which NHPCO discussed with Commissioners ahead of the publication of the workplan. NHPCO will continue to engage with Commissioners going forward on important topics in the workplan, including Medicare savings delivered by hospice care, addressing nonhospice spending for beneficiaries enrolled in hospice, and end-of-life care for beneficiaries with end-stage renal disease.

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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 serve as the leading voice advancing 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.org

Press Contact
Elyssa Katz
571-281-0220