Hospice Programing Descriptions

Audience Key:
| HH = Home Health | HOS = Hospice | NUR = Nurses |
| PHY = Physicians | PD = Private Duty | TH = Therapists|
 

115. Discontinuing Medications: Dialogues for Nurses, Physicians, Patients and Families

Talking with patients about discontinuing a medication regimen can be difficult. In this presentation, learn how to make decisions about appropriate prescribing for care in the end of life and develop communication strategies for discussions about medication discontinuation.

Objectives:

• Identify principles of decision making about drug treatment in end of life care
• Construct communication strategies for medication discontinuation with patients and caregivers
• Synthesize communication tactics for medication discontinuation with healthcare providers

Faculty: Maureen Jones, PharmD, RPh, Clinical Pharmacist, HospiScript, a Catamaran Company, Dublin, OH

Course Level: Intermediate; 1.5 nursing CEs; 1.5 CPEs (NASBA/SKA)

Track: Clinical
Audience: | HH | HOS | NUR | PHY |

116. Palliative Care and Hospice in an Accountable Care Model

This session will provide an overview of Palliative Care in relation to other services as an opportunity in new payment models for the successful management of the seriously ill population. Considerations for successful implementation and sustainability will be reviewed. Opportunities and barriers for program integration across the care continuum will also be discussed.

Objectives:

• Identify the opportunity for utilization of palliative care and hospice within a developing ACO.
• Discuss strategies for tracking growth and development via metric-specific analysis of palliative care and hospice programs
• Demonstrate the impact of expanding these services across the care continuum (inpatient, ED, clinic, home care and long term care)

Faculty: Lori Bishop, RN, CHPN, Executive Director Palliative Care & Hospice, UnityPoint at Home , Urbandale, IA; Monique Reese, ARNP, MSN, FNP-C, ACHPN, VP of Clinical Service and Chief CLinical Officer, Iowa Health Home Care, Urbandale, IA

Course Level: Intermediate; 1.5 nursing CEs; 1.5 CPEs (NASBA/SKA)

Track: Clinical
Audience: | HH | HOS | NUR | PHY |

215. Hospice Quality Measures and the Consumer: Current Research and Practical Implications for Communicating Quality to Potential Hospice Consumers

A panel of experts will present insights from research and practice on effective uses of quality measures based on the Family Evaluation of Hospice Care (FEHC) survey.

Objectives:

• Interpret  the current and expected future of the regulatory landscape related to hospice quality reporting
• Discuss principles for public reporting of hospice quality measures
• Explain practical ways in which public reporting can transform consumers and hospices

Faculty: Brad Smith, PhD, Co-Director, Center for Consumer Choice in Health Care, Altarum Institute, San Antonio, TX; Naomi  Naierman, MPA, President and CEO, American Hospice Foundation, Washington, DC; Dorothy Deremo, RN, MSN, MHSA, FACHE, President and CEO , Hospice of Michigan, Detroit, MI

Course Level: Intermediate; 1.5 nursing CEs; 1.5 CPEs (NASBA/SKA)

Track: Quality
Audience: | HOS |

216. Prognostication

It has become ever more difficult to determine the last days of a person’s life. The causes of death have increasingly shifted to chronic diseases, leading to varying, complicated, and subtle trajectories of decline. Limited research into the final stages of many chronic diseases further complicates prognosis. This program will be a review of the latest concepts and tools for prognostication can improve accuracy in determining the final stages of a disease trajectory.

Objectives:

• Discuss the regulatory background as it relates to prognostication
• Describe how the prognostic indicators are determined and examine their accuracy in predicting prognosis
• Examine common aspects of decline that are universal despite diagnosis and improve prognostication skills by disease trajectories

Faculty: Angie Hollis-Sells, RN, CHPN, President, AseraCare Home Health, Hospice and Palliative Medicine, Plano, TX; Jennifer L.  Ellis, MD, MPH, Regional Medical Director, Eastern US, AseraCare Hospice, Clarksville, TN

Course Level: Intermediate; 1.5 nursing CEs; 1.5 CPEs (NASBA/SKA)

Track: Clinical
Audience: | HOS | NUR | PHY |

315. Functional Decline in Hospice: Assessment, Intervention, and Documentation

This course will focus on an evidence-based approach to functional decline in the hospice patient. Participants will learn tools, documentation strategies, and interdisciplinary interventions in recognizing and reporting functional decline.

Objectives:

• Identify assess functional decline utilizing appropriate evidence-based tools
• List document functional indicators and their relationship to system decline
• Evaluate appropriateness of therapeutic intervention for symptom management

Faculty: Tonya  Miller, PT, DPT, Regional Vice President, Celtic Healthcare, Mechanicsburg , PA; Karen  Vance, BSOT, OTR, Consultant, BKD, LLP , Colorado Springs, CO; Rebecca Skrine, MS, CCC-SLP, CHCE, COS-C, Rehabilitation Manager, Baptist Home Health Care, Louisville, KY

Course Level: Intermediate; 1.5 nursing CEs; 1.5 CPEs (NASBA/SKA)

Track: Clinical
Audience: | HOS |

316. Modeling Hospice Changes to Prepare For Medicare Reimbursement and Care Delivery Reform

This program will provide insight into current and anticipated reimbursement challenges that Medicare hospice providers face in the coming years, with special emphasis on the status of hospice payment reform. A panel of hospice experts drawn from NAHC membership will present updates on the status of pending changes in hospice payment reform and how their organizations are preparing to meet the current and upcoming challenges.

Objectives:

• Identify the makeup and status of Medicare hospice reimbursement reform
• Identify the best steps to take now in preparation for reimbursement reform
• Interpret the position of hospice services in broad-based health care delivery reforms

Faculty: Steven Lancman, MBA, BSE, Director of Hospice Finance, Visiting Nurse Service of New York, New York, NY; Robert Simione, BS, Managing Principal, Simione Healthcare Consultants, LLC, Hamden, CT; and Patrick Brown, BA, CFO, Penn Home Care and Hospice Services, UPHS, Bala Cynwyd, PA

Course Level: Intermediate; 1.5 nursing CEs; 1.5 CPEs (NASBA/FIN)

Track: Financial
Audience: | HH | HOS | NUR | PHY | PD | TH

415. Child Life and Music Therapy in Pediatric Hospice and Palliative Care: A Program Model

This presentation will highlight child life and music therapy in pediatric palliative and hospice care. Faculty will share examples of interventions designed to meet the unique needs of families with children who need hospice care.

Objectives:

• Describe Child Life and Music Therapy roles in a pediatric hospice setting
• Identify the unique needs of patients and families in a pediatric hospice and palliative care setting
• Describe the use of Child Life and Music Therapy interventions in and palliative and End of Life Care (Hospice) Setting

Faculty: Deborah Dempsey, MMT, MA, MT-BC, Music Therapist, StarShine Hospice and Palliative Care, Cincinnati, OH; Tina Ulanowski, MEd, CCLS, Child Life Specialist III, StarShine Hospice and Palliative Care, Cincinnati, OH

Course Level: Intermediate; 1.5 nursing CEs; 1.5 CPEs (NASBA/SKA)

Track: Clinical
Audience: | HH | HOS | NUR | PHY | PD | TH

515. Determining Diagnoses Related to Terminal Illness

For more than a year, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has routinely cautioned hospice providers that they should be including a principal and all related diagnoses on claims and that hospices must closely adhere to ICD-9-CM coding guidelines.  Based on those guidelines, CMS has indicated that adult failure to thrive and debility, as well as some dementia codes, are inappropriate for use as the principal diagnosis on hospice claims.  Effective in October 2014 hospice claims using debility or adult failure to thrive as the primary diagnosis will be rejected by CMS’ claims processing contractors.  Ensuring that your hospice’s operations fully incorporate the spirit of CMS’ clarifications must be addressed NOW, as it could require your entire operation to rethink its approach to assessment, documentation, determinations of diagnoses, and coding. This session will provide guidance on how coding guidelines and conventions can be used to help drive this dramatic shift in hospice culture.

Objectives:

• Describe how the terminal diagnosis and related diagnoses should be identified.
• Discuss the CMS decision to prohibit debility and failure to thrive as terminal illnesses and alternatives to debility and failure to thrive, and concerns about other “manifestation” codes.
• Identify methods to improve compliance with coding guidelines and describe the patient's complex medical needs related to the terminal diagnosis.

Faculty: Lisa Selman Holman, JD, BSN, RN, HCS-D, HCS-O, COS-C, AHIMA Approved ICD-10-CM Trainer/Ambassador; Owner, Selman-Holman Associates; Denton, TX

Course Level: Intermediate; 1.5 nursing CEs; 1.5 CPEs (NASBA/FIN); Social Workers 1.5 CEs, NASW (except CA and MI), BBS (BBS except marketing credits)

Track: Legal & Regulatory
Audience: | HOS |

516. Selling the Financial Value of Hospice

Under the healthcare reform law, organizations caring for end-of-life patients can garner the rewards of reducing utilization by encouraging use of hospice care. This presentation will detail the various legislative incentives upon which hospices can have an impact and show how to quantify the savings of hospice vs. curative care for each model at a specific facility or in a specific market. The session will also discuss the different sales process and messaging needed.

Objectives:

• Outline the specific aspects of the Affordable Care Act where substituting hospice can generate cost savings
• Calculate the savings potential of this service substitution for a specific hospital or, within a specific market
• Discuss who should market this potential hospice, how different the message should be and what is required by the audience

Faculty: Richard Chesney, MBA, President, Healthcare Market Resources, Dresher, PA

Course Level: Intermediate; 1.5 nursing CEs; 1.5 CPEs (NASBA/FIN)

Track: Marketing & Business Development
Audience: | HOS |

615. Becoming the "Go To" Hospice: How to Build Successful Relationships with Nursing Homes in the Changing Regulatory Landscape

Recent CMS regulations have confirmed that nursing homes are not required to contract with hospices to care for their residents. With these regulations, increased scrutiny of nursing homes, and impending changes to the hospice reimbursement structure, how will your hospice solidify its existing nursing home relationships and build successful new relationships? Based on their experience in both the hospice and the long-term care industries, the presenters will discuss the new pressures faced by nursing homes and ways to become a hospice that nursing homes want to contract with. Attendees will explore business considerations as well as learn tips to for avoiding risk areas when partnering with nursing homes.

Objectives:

• Describe the changing regulatory landscape for nursing homes and hospices
• Demonstrate how the regulatory environment affects nursing homes and how hospice can have a role
• Identify business considerations and learn tips for avoiding risk areas in partnering with nursing homes

Faculty: Meg S. L. Pekarske, BS, JD, Shareholder, Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c., Madison, WI; Carla Braveman, BSN, RN, MED, CHCE, VP, Home & Community Services, Elliot Health System, Visiting Nurse Association of Manchester and Southern New Hampshire, Manchester, NH

Course Level: Intermediate; 1.5 nursing CEs; 1.5 CPEs (NASBA/RE)

Track: Legal & Regulatory
Audience: | HOS |

707. Hospice Clinical Compensation: Aligned Incentives Requires an Optimum Clinical and IDG Model

Anticipated Medicare payment changes and the newly-developed outcomes measures tool creates greater demands upon hospice agencies to become more sophisticated, achieve excellent clinical outcomes, and Family Evaluation of Hospice Care (FEHC) scores, and take patient care management to new levels. All incentives throughout the hospice agency should align with these goals, including compensation, care management, and the measures of both clinical and financial outcomes and FEHC scores. This program will discuss creative solutions to these issues.

Objectives:

• Identify the goals of a clinical staff incentive compensation model, productivity, case capacity and timeliness of documentation.
• Identify a clinical staff incentive compensation model to achieve overall desired FEHC scores and financial outcom
• Identify the staff performance issues, approaches to improve productivity, case capacity, and FEHC scores, while providing appropriate visits and reducing direct cost per visit and per case costs

Faculty: Pat Laff, CPA, Managing Pricipal, Laff Associates, Hilton Head Island, SC; Carolyn Flietstra, RN, BSN, V. P. - Home & Community Based Services, Holland Home, Grand Rapids, MI

Course Level: Intermediate; 1.5 nursing CEs; 1.5 CPEs (NASBA/SKA)

Track: Human Resources
Audience: | HOS |

714. Bridging the Gaps: Providing Transitional Care With Palliative Medicine

It takes a collaborative team to ensure every patient receives the right care, in the right setting at the right time. This session will describe a Bridge Program that includes processes to guide patient flow, tracking tools to support the transition, and educational tools for clinicians, patients, family & physician.

Objectives:

• Identify how palliative care can help bridge gaps a complex healthcare system
• Value and measure palliative care and how it can help bridge gaps in healthcare for patients by investigating a complex healthcare system and focusing on advance care planning by asking "when" and not "if"
• Identify research versus current models of care and use of Geriatric Nurse Practitioner (GNP)

Faculty: Bob Parker, RN, MSNEd, CHPN, Palliative Medicine Program Manager, AseraCare, Austin, TX; Angie Hollis-Sells, RN, CHPN, President of AseraCare, AseraCare, Plano, TX

Course Level: Intermediate; 1.5 nursing CEs; 1.5 CPEs (NASBA/SKA)

Track: Clinical
Audience: | HH | HOS | NUR | PHY | PD | TH

715. Hospice Association of America Open Forum and Policy Roundup

The Medicare Hospice Program has entered an era of rapid change that is being driven by regulatory and legislative initiatives. This session will provide insight into the latest regulatory issues hospice providers must address, as well as changes that are anticipated in the not-too-distant future. The session will also serve as an opportunity for attendees to become acquainted with staff and leadership of NAHC’s Hospice Association of America.

Objectives:

• Outline key issues related to current and future hospice regulatory requirements
• Describe federal legislative initiatives in hospice and end-of-life care and work currently being conducted by MedPAC related to hospice
• Discuss efforts by HAA on behalf of hospices in the legislative and regulatory arenas.

Faculty: Katie Wehri, Hospice Regulatory and Operations Specialist, NAHC, Washington, DC; Theresa M. Forster, Vice President for Hospice Policy & Programs, NAHC, Washington, DC

Course Level: Intermediate; 1.5 nursing CEs; 1.5 CPEs (NASBA/SKA)

Track: Legal & Regulatory
Audience: | HH | HOS | NUR | PHY | PD | TH

815. The Palliative Home Care Program: One Agency’s Experience

This program will describe the implementation and operation of a palliative home care program. Presenters will describe driving forces for creation, business plan development and clinical concerns.

Objectives:

• Name three driving forces for the implementation of a Palliative Home Care program.
• Describe ways that Home Palliative Care differs from Hospice
• Describe three clinical concerns in patient care

Faculty: Karen Marshall Thompson, RN, MS, CNS, Director, SOMC Home Health Services, Portsmouth, OH; Jenny Smathers, RN, BSN, RN Case Manager, SOMC Home Health Services, Portsmouth, OH

Course Level: Intermediate; 1.5 nursing CEs; 1.5 CPEs (NASBA/)

Track: Marketing & Business Development
Audience: | HH | HOS | NUR | PHY |

816. Marketing Hospice Today for a Changing Tomorrow

Now is the time for hospice organizations to position themselves for the future. Educational gaps exist with all audiences when it comes to fully understanding how hospice can play a role in improving outcomes for all parties involved — whether that is cost savings for a health system or allowing caregivers and family members to enjoy additional time with their loved one at home. Hospice organizations should be evaluating the opportunities, strategizing, and acting before the shifts and consolidation that are currently underway to make true integration with healthcare professionals and systems a much more difficult task. This session session will provide insight into how the competitive landscape has shifted, review forward-looking trends, discuss marketing communication strategies that will effectively position your hospice for the future and review a case study showing how Hospice of Northwest Ohio has successfully established their market position and what they are doing to take the organization into the future.

Objectives:

• Evaluate opportunities to position your organization for future succes
• Illustrate strategies to successfully gain advantageous positioning
• Apply hospice market positioning "best practices"

Faculty: Stan Massey, BA, Partner, Chief Branding Officer, Transcend Hospice Marketing Group, Holland, OH; Judy Lang, BS, Director of Communication, Hospice of Northwest Ohio, Perrysburg, OH

Course Level: Intermediate

Track: Marketing & Business Development
Audience: | HOS |