NewsLine - April 2013 - (Page 3)

Spreading the Word on Capitol Hill I know many of you are now familiar with the landmark research on hospice that’s recently come out of Mount Sinai’s Icahn School of Medicine and appears in the March issue of Health Affairs. If you aren’t, please take a look at this month’s cover story. Since the release of the Health Affairs article, NHPCO and the Hospice Action Network have been doing it justice on Capitol Hill. On March 11, we hosted the lead researcher, Amy Kelley, MD, MSHS, at a policy briefing at the Rayburn House Office Building, home of the U.S. House of Representatives. Additionally, Dr. Kelley joined us in a number of Congressional meetings with key legislators and hospice champions as well as with senior MedPAC staff. Leadership here at NHPCO and HAN also had the opportunity to spend some time with Dr. Kelley and learn more about her appreciation of hospice care. (As a physician, she said she has personally observed the difference that hospice care makes in the lives of patients and families.) I’m also pleased to report that Dr. Kelley is committed to further research involving care at the end of life and what prompts patients and families to make the choices they do. So we can look forward to more groundbreaking research from her and her colleagues in the months and years to come. I’d also like to take this time to express our thanks to Dr. Kelley for her dedication and commitment to end of life care, as well as to the publishers of Health Affairs who gave us permission to share reprints of the article during our Capitol Hill events— at no charge. A special nod also goes to those of you who are already using this new research to advance our goals. While I’ve spoken with reporters at many major news outlets, I have also seen a number of providers around the country use this new research in stories for print and broadcast news (see Member News and Notes for a great example). For those of you who have not yet utilized this new research, please consider reaching out to your community now—both to the local media and other professionals. On the HAN website, you’ll find links to the article, the NHPCO press release, and a document outlining key findings. As a professional community, we know how valuable hospice is, but having unassailable research lends important credence to our work on the Hill. Don with Dr. Kelley after the March 11 briefing. J. Donald Schumacher, PsyD President/CEO NewsLine 3

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NewsLine - April 2013

New Research Validates That Hospice Saves Medicare Big Dollars
A Message From Don
NHPCO HAN’s Advocacy Strategy for the Hill
Simione Consulting (display ad)
Hospice Education Network (display ad)
Fraud and Abuse
Make an Impact: African PC Nursing Scholarship Fund (display ad)
Honoring Our Four-Legged Volunteers
Creating a Volunteer-Inclusive Culture
Do Your Colleagues Know They’re NHPCO Members Too?
New—Lighthouse of Hope Fund
R2R: Helping Hospice Staff Raise Needed Funds
A Great Resource for Your Referral Partners
Revised State Hospice Profiles (display ad)
NHPCO’s HPC Professional Scholarship Program (display ad)
Member News and Notes
Compliance Tip of the Month
Videos Worth Watching

NewsLine - April 2013