NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - 14

continued from previous page

policy attorney, all roads seemed to point to NHPCO,
as the national organization for meeting the needs of
seriously ill and dying patients, and their families.

Q: You have previously said that hospices in the

21st century need to combine the core hospice
philosophy with a "laser-like focus on quality
and access to care" - and that hospices always
need to be compliant with laws and focused on
the needs of patients and caregivers. Where
have hospices lagged when it comes to this? In
what ways will NHPCO help hospices improve?

A single instance of poor care is something that every
hospice provider and professional wants to avoid. But,
hospice is largely dependent on volunteers, caregivers
and professionals, all of whom are only human. When
you serve more than 1.6 million patients and families a
year, hospices will sometimes fall short of our collective
standards. We need to make sure that we have high
standards and that we hold ourselves accountable. We
need to practice continuous quality improvement-not
simply because it is in a regulation or required by a
survey. Having said that, we need to strive to afford our
patients and their families the best care that is possible,
understanding their goals, and doing what we can to
meet those desires. Our goal, shared by our members,
is to provide each day of care with a devotion to the
highest quality care possible. I want NHPCO to be a
resource and accelerator for best practices that will help
good hospices become better and lagging hospices to
become good.

Q: The hospice community has faced many new

regulations from CMS in recent years. Which
regulation has been having the biggest impact
on your members, and how will NHPCO be able
to help members deal with this challenge?

Having spent time at CMS, I understand the
importance of a strong regulatory regime. At the
same time, providers do face a number of regulatory

14

NHPCO NewsLine | Summer 2017

layers that can be difficult to reconcile. Quality,
program integrity, conditions of participation and
payment rules are not always aligned. Further, CMS
Contractors have different interpretations of rules. I
am certainly in favor of simplifying and paring down
regulations. That said, I want to be clear about the
fact that regulations are important, and I have no
patience for hospices that do a poor job of complying
with the most basic rules and regulations. We need to
strike a good balance between setting a solid
foundation that forces accountability, and
overburdening compliant organizations. I look
forward to being CMS' partner in this regard.

Q: It won't be too far down the road before a

Hospice Compare website and star ratings
come to the field. When are they expected, and
what does NHPCO advise hospices to do to
prepare for this?

Hospice Compare will certainly be something new for
the hospice community, but I welcome transparency.
We look forward to working with CMS to assure that
any tool accurately reflects performance. This will
not happen overnight, but I agree that if done right
this is an important tool that will help consumers
make informed decisions. No single tool will capture
all of the information that patients and families need
to select the hospice that can best meet their needs,
but public reporting is one path.

Q: Beginning in 2016, CMS changed the payment
structure for hospices. How has the field been
impacted (financially and otherwise) by this
change? Are issues ongoing, and how is
NHPCO helping hospices experiencing issues?
What does NHPCO advise hospices do?

Payment reform was a long time coming to hospice.
We now have a year of impact and by and large, the
informal reports that I have heard indicate that the
new payment system is being well-received by the



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017

Table of Contents
Virtual Conference (display ad)
Message from Edo
History, Innovation and Trust
Edo Q&A
Summer Listening Tour (display ad)
NHF Gala (display ad)
Lighthouse of Hope Fund (display ad)
Put "Passed Away" to Rest
ACHC (display ad)
Hospice Aides Webinar Series (display ad)
Using Education to Connect
2017 Interdisciplinary Conference
2017 Interdisciplinary Conf (display ad)
Music & Memory
Pioneers of Hospice
NHPCO Career Center (display ad)
2017 Management and Leadership Conf
Advocacy at MLC
NHDD Congressional Briefing
2017 Advocacy Intensive
2017 Advocacy Intensive (display ad)
Virtual Conference 2017
Linda Rock Receives Award
NHPCO Webinars (display ad)
Podcasts (display ad)
Member News
MVI (display ad)
CaringInfo Content Licensing (display ad)
News from NHF
News from We Honor Veterans
Online Resources
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - Intro
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - 1
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - Table of Contents
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - 3
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - Virtual Conference (display ad)
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - Message from Edo
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - History, Innovation and Trust
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - 7
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - 8
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - 9
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - 10
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - 11
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - 12
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - Edo Q&A
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - 14
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - 15
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - Summer Listening Tour (display ad)
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - Lighthouse of Hope Fund (display ad)
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - Put "Passed Away" to Rest
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - 19
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - 20
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - 21
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - 22
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - Hospice Aides Webinar Series (display ad)
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - Using Education to Connect
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - 25
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - 26
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - 27
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - 2017 Interdisciplinary Conference
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - 2017 Interdisciplinary Conf (display ad)
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - Music & Memory
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - 31
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - Pioneers of Hospice
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - 33
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - 34
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - NHPCO Career Center (display ad)
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - 2017 Management and Leadership Conf
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - 37
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - Advocacy at MLC
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - NHDD Congressional Briefing
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - 2017 Advocacy Intensive
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - 2017 Advocacy Intensive (display ad)
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - Virtual Conference 2017
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - 43
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - Linda Rock Receives Award
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - Podcasts (display ad)
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - Member News
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - 47
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - 48
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - MVI (display ad)
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - 50
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - CaringInfo Content Licensing (display ad)
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - News from NHF
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - News from We Honor Veterans
NHPCO NewsLine Summer 2017 - Online Resources
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