NHPCO Podcast

On the final episode of the NHPCO Podcast, host Elyssa Katz is joined by Tracy Wheeler, Executive Director for End Well, a leading non-profit at the intersection of end-of-life and culture change with a focus on making end of life, part of life. Listeners will learn how the End Well team works to engage the media, and even Hollywood stars, in conversations around death and end of life. Listeners will also learn how to implement some of End Well's best practices at their own organizations. Help spread the message about what true hospice and end of life care look like and increase access to care for all communities. As the NHPCO Podcast concludes and we shape our future together in the Alliance, we want to hear from you! Share your feedback on the podcast, a miniseries, or an episode with communications@allianceforcareathome.org.

In the second episode of the Communication & Education miniseries, host Elyssa Katz is joined by Marian Grant and Tony Back, two national leaders in the hospice and palliative care community and co-creators of the Serious Illness Messaging Toolkit (seriousillnessmessaging.org). Together they cover community education, a critical topic for care-at-home providers and particularly for hospice and palliative care providers who face additional challenges with common stigmas about the care and services they provide. Listeners will leave with practical, evidence-based principles and accessible resources to assist them in capturing public interest without reinforcing misconceptions.

Welcome to the third and final miniseries in this season of the NHPCO Podcast! Over the course of the last three episodes, we'll focus on communication and education, starting with Episode 8, National Care at Home Month. Tune in as the Alliance Communications team introduces a month of recognition, celebration, and storytelling created to honor the combined membership of the new Alliance and the patients and families its members serve nationwide. Listeners will also learn about how to participate in National Care at Home Month to uplift their organizations, recognize their peers, and contribute to the national dialogue on care at home. We are stronger together, and we can't wait to celebrate!

In the third and final episode of the Regulatory & Legislative miniseries, host Elyssa Katz is joined by repeat guests Logan Hoover and Madison Summers to discuss the policy priorities top of mind for the provider community and the Alliance Policy team. Listeners will learn the latest on topics from program integrity to Gerald's Law and telehealth flexibilities, as well as how they can engage locally and nationally to advance the priorities most important to them. Stay tuned for the third and final miniseries in this season of the NHPCO Podcast kicking off in early October – Communication and Education! Email feedback to podcast@nhpco.org.

Tune in to the second episode in the Regulatory & Legislative miniseries focusing on palliative care! Listeners will hear a brief recap of the palliative care landscape before diving into actionable tips for providers with returning guest Rory Farrand, VP of Palliative and Advanced Care for NHPCO. From operators and clinicians with an existing program to those looking to start a new service line, Farrand covers how to operate effectively in the current environment and how to prepare for what the future may hold. As always, let us know what you think by emailing podcast@nhpco.org.

Dive into the first episode in our next miniseries – Regulation and Legislation – with everyone's favorite topic: the Hospice Special Focus Program (SFP). In this episode, host Elyssa Katz is joined by Logan Hoover, NHPCO VP of Policy and Government Relations, and Patrick Harrison, NHPCO Senior Director of Regulatory and Compliance to cover background, considerations, and predictions around the SFP's algorithm and implementation. Leave with a stronger understanding of what lies ahead for the provider community as well as practical takeaways you can use to improve and protect your organization.

The third episode in our Quality miniseries focuses on Datasets. NHPCO is committed to continuous quality improvement; increasingly in our technology forward environment, data collection, access, and analysis play critical roles in ensuring the provision of care that meets or exceeds national standards. Host Elyssa Katz is joined by NHPCO VP of Quality, Aparna Gupta, and NHPCO Quality Data Analyst, Tej Chana, to discuss the role of data and benchmarking, the various datasets available to providers, and how to glean practical information that your organization can apply from these datasets. Have a question you'd like to see answered in a future episode? Reach out to podcast@nhpco.org. Thanks for listening!

The second episode in our Quality miniseries, Personalized Care for Diverse Populations, focuses on how hospice is uniquely structured to care for not only our most vulnerable population – those facing the end of life – but also to meet the individual needs of diverse populations in ways other parts of the healthcare system cannot. Host Elyssa Katz is joined by two special guests to approach this topic from a variety of perspectives – Torie Ring, NHPCO Veterans Service Specialist, and India Harris-Jones, NHPCO Manager of Health Equity and Diversity. The episode provides practical tips for delivering the best possible care to Veteran and historically marginalized communities, both at the individual staff level and via organizational strategy. Have a question you'd like to see answered in a future episode? Reach out to podcast@nhpco.org.  Thanks for listening!

In the first episode of our Quality miniseries, host Elyssa Katz is joined by NHPCO's Senior Director of Quality, Sarah Simmons, and Manager of Public Affairs, Madison Summers to cover all things workforce and staffing in the provider community. They uncover and provide legislative and practical resource-based solutions for many of the pressing workforce challenges providers face today – competition for skilled hospice and palliative staff, creative and effective staffing models, keeping up with compensation pressures, and clinicians entering the workforce with little to no hospice and palliative care exposure. Have a question you'd like to see answered in a future episode? Reach out to podcast@nhpco.org. Thanks for listening!

Over the course of 10 episodes, this season will focus on Expanding Access to Equitable, High-Quality Care, approaching the topic through three unique miniseries: Quality, Regulation and Legislation, and Communication and Education. We'll tap into expertise from NHPCO staff and members of the broader serious-illness care community. On today's episode, previous and current hosts – Madison Summers, Manager of Public Affairs, and Elyssa Katz, Manager of Marketing and Communications, respectively – sit down to introduce the new season, provide an overview of the three miniseries to come, and offer a sneak preview of some of NHPCO and the Hospice Action Networks' top legislative focuses this year. Have a question you'd like to see answered in a future episode? Reach out at podcast@nhpco.org. Thanks for listening!

Welcome back to the NHPCO Podcast! It's hard to believe that we've reached the end of season 2 already. Thank you for listening and supporting us along the way.  On today's episode, Madison is joined by NHPCO's Director of Education, Sarah Bal, and Manager of Member Engagement, Carla Smith, to learn about the many offerings that members can take advantage of including webinars, MyNHPCO Chats, and IDC and ALC 2024.  Until next season! For updates on the NHPCO-NAHC collaboration, please visit: https://www.nhpco.org/nahc-collaboration/ 

On today's episode, Melinda Gruber, Chair of the Board of Directors for the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, and Ken Albert, Chairman of the Board for the National Association for Home Care and Hospice Chair, join the podcast to discuss the future of both organizations and the continuum of care. Tune in to learn more about the affiliation between both orgs and what next steps lie ahead in 2024. For more information, please visit: https://www.nhpco.org/nahc-collaboration/

The holiday season is typically seen as a time of joy, connection, and celebration of traditions with family and friends. But for many, it's also a time of grief as we reflect on those who are no longer with us. On today's episode, Madison is joined by Dora Carpenter, founder of the Institute of Professional Grief Coaching and NHPCO colleague, Elyssa Katz, to discuss the ways in which we can honor our grief and be there for others as they work through their loss during this emotional time of year. Have a topic you'd like to hear covered on the NHPCO Podcast? Email podcast@nhpco.org  

On today's episode, Madison is joined once more by NHPCO's VP of Policy and Government Relations, Logan Hoover plus a new addition to the NHPCO team, Patrick Harrison, Senior Director of Regulatory and Compliance, to discuss one of the most pressing issues facing the hospice community in 2024: the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' Special Focus Program (SFP). Enacted under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, the SFP aims to increase oversight of hospices which have substantially failed to meet Medicare program requirements. However, despite concerns raised by key stakeholders including members of Congress, technical expert panel participants, and hospice community leaders, CMS is moving forward with a program based on a flawed methodology which may not accurately identify poor performing hospices. Tune in to learn more about what's being done to attempt to change the current SFP algorithm and how providers can advocate for change.      

November is recognized annually as National Veterans and Military Families Month. On today's episode, Madison sits down with Katherine Kemp, NHPCO's Senior Director of Veteran Services and NHPCO member, Shannon Pointer, to discuss the mission of the We Honor Veterans program, the many ways in which hospice providers can recognize local vets in their communities, and the importance of thanking both Veterans and their families for their sacrifice and service. 

Each November, we celebrate National Hospice and Palliative Care Month; a time to honor and recognize the importance of these types of care and engage in courageous conversations with our loved ones and peers. On today's epsiode, Madison sits down with two NHPCO members to discuss their personal hospice stories and how difficult conversations led to their current roles in the hospice field.  Have a question you'd like to see answered on a future episode? Email podcast@nhpco.org 

Description: on today's episode, host Madison Summers sits down with Rory Farrand, NHPCO's VP of Palliative and Advanced Care to discuss the latest developments in the field of palliative care including the community-based demonstration model and reimbursement methods for the interdisciplinary model of care. In Rory's words, “if you've seen one palliative program, you've seen one palliative program!” Tune in to learn more. Have a question you'd like to hear answered on a future episode? Email podcast@nhpco.org 

On today's episode, Madison sits down with Aparna Gupta, NHPCO's VP of Quality, and Sarah Simmons, NHPCO's Director of Quality, to discuss the future of quality measures to ensure the hospice and palliative care community is as equitable and accessible as possible.  Have a question that you'd like to hear discussed on an upcoming episode? Email Madison at podcast@nhpco.org 

On today's episode, Madison sits down with Logan Hoover, NHPCO's VP of Policy and Government Relations, to discuss the current policy priorities for the hospice and palliative care community. Tune in to learn more about expanding telehealth flexibilities through the CONNECT for Health Act, the Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act (PCHETA) which would help address the growing workforce, and the Expanding Access to Palliative Care Act which aims to create a demonstration project within Medicare to allow palliative care to be covered concurrently with curative treatment. Have a question you'd like to hear addressed on a future episode? Email Madison at podcast@nhpco.org 

Welcome back to the NHPCO Podcast! After a hiatus, we are back with a new season and a new host, Madison Summers.  Over the course of 10 episodes, this season will focus on the evolution of the Hospice Benefit, tapping NHPCO staff and members for their expertise in the field and at the national level.  On today's episode, Madison sits down with NHPCO COO and Interim CEO, Ben Marcantonio, to discuss the origin of the benefit and where we're headed next as a community including program integrity efforts, changes in the prognosis and models of care, and the importance of unity. Have a question you'd like to see answered on a future episode? Reach out at podcast@nhpco.org  Thanks for listening!

As 2021 comes to a close, Jon sits down with Edo Banach and Tarrah Lowry, NHPCO board member and COO of Trustbridge. Jon, Edo, and Tarrah discuss the challenges of the past year as well as the successes and what the field will face in 2022. Tarrah also provides valuable insight into how leaders can re-center themselves in the mission of hospice and palliative care.

The CY22 Home Health final rule included hospice provisions on survey reform and enforcement remedies. In this podcast, Jon talks with Judi Lund Person and special guest Kimberly Skehan, Director of Compliance, Regulatory & Quality at SimiTree Healthcare Consulting about these topics. Learn more about the language and timing of the rule, the different enforcement remedies CMS can utilize for condition level deficiencies, and what hospices should do now to prepare.

Jon sits down with Lori Bishop and a new member of the NHPCO team: Logan Hoover, Director of Legislative Affairs. NHPCO and the Hospice Action Network (HAN) work together closely to ensure the needs and concerns of providers are brought to Congress, and grassroots advocacy is a key piece of the puzzle. Learn how your involvement can make a difference for the field and help NHPCO and HAN get you the tools and resources you need.

NHPCO's Quality Connections program is about to wrap up its inaugural year. NHPCO's Jennifer Kennedy and Hope Fost provide an overview of Quality Connections and its value for providers as we move toward a fee-for-performance model. Special guest Sarah Simmons from Calvert Hospice talks about her experience in the Quality Connections program and how Calvert Hospice became the first program to earn all four rings. And we end with a grateful farewell to Jennifer before she begins the next step of her career.

Later this month, NHPCO will be releasing Palliative Care Core Screening Tools. This resource is designed for hospice and palliative care teams to use with partners, such as primary care physicians and specialists, to help determine when a patient is seriously ill and may benefit from additional support. NHPCO's Lori Bishop talks with Dr. Bernice Burkarth and Dr. Tim Jessick about how these and other resources can create evidence and a shared vision of recommendations for patients across medical disciplines.

Jon R sits down with NHPCO's Jennifer Kennedy and special guest Natalie McNeal, Executive Director of WellStar Community Hospice in Georgia. Jennifer provides an update on the latest news from CMS related to the CAHPS survey, and Natalie shares how her hospice adapted their practices in a COVID world to maintain their scores. Hear some practical tips of how your hospice can address low scoring topics in innovative ways.

In this month's podcast, NHPCO's summer Diversity, Equity and Inclusion intern Lauren Wallace interviews Nicole McCann-Davis, chair of NHPCO's Diversity Advisory Council. Learn more about why DEI is so important in health care and how NHPCO's Diversity Advisory Council is working to support providers in their journey to provide equitable care

In this month's podcast, JR talks with NHPCO's Judi Lund Person and Jennifer Kennedy about the FY22 Hospice Wage Index Final Rule. Along with basic information about the wage index values and rates, Judi and Jennifer take a deeper dive into how the final rule will affect providers - from regulatory areas of interest for CMS to changes in public reporting and data. Resources Mentioned in this Podcast FY22 Hospice Wage Index Final Rule Resources for NHPCO Members NHPCO Quality Connections Deprescribing Toolkit (under "Deprescribing Medications" header)

This episode features NHPCO's Lori Bishop along with two special guests - Karla Weng and Janelle Shearer from Stratis Health. Karla and Janelle share their experiences working with rural communities to address the gap of palliative care services, from developing a framework to keeping it sustainable. They have also developed a toolkit that contains guidance and links to a comprehensive set of resources to build capacity to offer palliative care services. 

This episode features NHPCO's Lori Bishop, Annie Acs, and special guest Dave Ault, Counsel at Fagere Drinker. Lori, Annie and Dave provide an update on CMMI's models and demos and discuss contracting opportunities for providers, especially for community-based palliative care. Even if you're comfortable in the situation you're in, Dave encourages providers to think about how healthcare payment is moving and that it's moving very quickly, but you don't need to be left behind because there are so many different ways to participate. The podcast references a blog from NHPCO and NORC at the University of Chicago posted on the CSU Shiley Institute for Palliative Care website. Click through to read more: "Ensuring Equitable Access to Needed Care for the Seriously Ill through the Medicare Care Choices Model (MCCM) ."

In this week's episode, Jon R. welcomes NHPCO's Judi Lund Person along with Stacy Groff, Vice President of Specialized Services at Tidewell Hospice. CMS is encouraging hospice programs to start rebuilding their volunteer programs in anticipation of the end of the public health emergency (and the 1135 waivers) on or around December 31, 2021. Judi and Stacy discuss what programs should be doing now to prepare, how leaders can empower their volunteer management staff as they work toward the 5% requirement, and utilizing MyNHPCO for support.

This episode, originally aired in April 2019, features messages and themes that continue to be timely. In this special leadership episode, Jon R. sits down with former NHO President and CEO Jay Mahoney and Empath Health CEO Rafael Sciullo to discuss our evolution as an organization and how the principles that guided hospice over 40 years ago still hold true today.

In this week's podcast, Jon talks with NHPCO's Judi Lund Person and Jennifer Kennedy about the FY22 Hospice Wage Index Proposed Rule. Listen to hear about both the regulatory and quality focused aspects of the proposed rule, including rebasing of rates, the importance of accurate cost reports, how 2022 quality data will impact 2024 payments, and more. Jon also shares NHPCO's participation in the HHS "We Can Do This" campaign.

In this week's podcast, JR talks with NHPCO's Annie Acs and Lori Bishop. Annie gives an update on CMMI models and demos, and Lori connects the dots between these models, medical group practices, and opportunities to provide palliative care. Listen to learn more and hear how these opportunities, along with free resources from NHPCO, can also help you better serve underserved populations. And hear about a Disney film that surprised JR.

In this week's podcast, NHPCO's Lori Bishop and Jennifer Kennedy provide an update on HQRP. Listen in to learn more about Hospice Visits in the Last Days of Life (HVLDL), the Hospice Care Index, value-based reimbursement, the HOPE tool, and how NHPCO's Quality Connections can help you be prepared for what's to come.

In this week's podcast, Jennifer Kennedy sits down with Christine Nidd of Hospice of the Northwest and Natalie McNeal of Wellstar Community Hospice, advisors on the NHPCO Quality and Standards Committee. Christine and Natalie reflect on the past year of the COVID-19 public health emergency and share surprises, lessons learned, and emergency preparedness practices they'll continue using even as COVID-19 infections begin to subside. Listen in for practices that could be useful for your program.

In this week's podcast episode, JR sits down with NHPCO's Judi Lund Person and Kim Skehan, Director of Compliance, Regulatory and Quality from Simione Healthcare Consultant to discuss survey readiness. Learn more about the changes Kim and Judi have noticed in surveyors and the survey process in the last year, and take away concrete things your organization can be doing now to be ready for future surveys.

In this episode of the podcast, JR talks with Lori Bishop, NHPCO's Vice President of Palliative and Advanced Care, and Balu Natarajan, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Seasons Healthcare Management and chair of NHPCO's Palliative Care Council. Lori and Balu discuss the future of community-based palliative care, how that can integrate into CMS models and demos, and why "we can't stand still" when it comes to the future of serious illness care.

The MyNHPCO Pharmacist Community, in collaboration with the MyNHPCO Physician/Advanced Practice Provider Community and numerous hospice professionals, released the NHPCO Deprescribing Toolkit for NHPCO members. In this episode of the podcast, JR talks with Judi Lund Person and Jason Kimbrel, Vice President of Hospice Services for Optum and MyNHPCO Pharmacist Community Leader. Learn how to approach deprescribing with your interdisciplinary team and how the new toolkit can help. NHPCO members, log in and visit the Regulatory > Drugs & Medications page to download the toolkit.

This is the second part of our two-part series on the things you can (and should be) considering this year. Part 1 focused on the most important regulatory and policy components and today's episode covers quality, models and demos. Hear exciting opportunities for providers in the year to come.

While 2020 brought changes that many are still adjusting to, this upcoming year is also shaping up to be quite active for hospice and palliative professionals. We're starting off 2021 with a two-part series on the things you can (and should be) considering this year. Part 1 focuses on the most important regulatory and policy components with Judi Lund Person and Mark Slobodien.

The importance of self-care and burnout has long been prominent in our field but this year has put more of an emphasis on it than ever before. Jon R. sits down with Carla Cheatham of the Carla Cheatham Consulting Group, LLC, and NHPCO COO, Ben Marcantonio to discuss concrete takeaways for leaders to manage their teams and themselves as mindfully as possible. As Dr. Cheatham tells us in this episode, providers not prioritizing self-care makes you "ineffective at best and dangerous at worst".

Providing quality care has never been more important, and it is quickly becoming a necessity for your business operations. After two years of consulting with national experts and examining member needs, NHPCO is launching the Quality Connections program in January 2021. We have developed this program to help providers navigate not just the COP's but all components of quality that will give them a competitive edge and national recognition.

Our post election episode from 2016 has been one of our most popular and we are excited to bring you this discussion to mark our 100th episode. Jon R. sits down with NHPCO's Director of Legislative Affairs, Mark Slobodien and Andrew Woods, Chairman of the Liberty Partners Group. Hear a discussion on what we know now and some things to expect over the next four years.

Quality reporting changes are coming and will be effective January 1, 2021. Jon R. sits down with Jennifer Kennedy and Judi Lund Person to discuss these changes, a couple head scratchers included and what providers need to know and can be doing now.

This episode, originally aired in March 2018 has withstood the test of time. November is National Hospice Month and the perfect time to revisit this conversation. Starting with a reminder of the federal Patient Self-Determination Act of 1990, Judi, Jennifer and Jon talk about the importance of advance care planning. They offer guidance for the hospice team given the importance of this topic on caring for patients and their families and answer the question “can hospice physicians bill for ACP discussions?”.

Judi Lund Person tells us at the beginning of this episode that getting into the weeds on reimbursement is fun, and we put her to the test. The FY2021 began on October 1, which is when the Medicare rates and wage index went into effect, hear what's new and what else is in this year's rule.

Jon R. sits down with Annie Acs to analyze NHPCO's 2020 Facts and Figures Report. This report is the only report of its kind that is available free-of-charge to the public and provides an overview of hospice care delivery in the U.S. with specific information on hospice patient characteristics, location and level of care, Medicare hospice spending, hospice provider characteristics, and more. Learn what hospices can do with this information and why it's so important to understand the bigger picture of who we're serving.