Forum Friday Updates!
Stay up-to-date on everything Forum related on Forum Friday! Speakers, important dates, awards, and more!
https://mailchi.mp/floridahospices/thehospiceprofessionalforumfriday2-28-25-9296681
News
Our CEO, Paul A. Ledford, was a guest writer on Florida Politics. Read the article here.
Upcoming Events
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3:00 PM - Honoring Veterans’ Healthcare Decisions
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3:00 PM - Coaching Challenging Personalities
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Dementia-related diagnoses now represent the leading category among hospice beneficiaries and the need for thoughtfully trained and supported volunteers has never been greater. This session will guide you through the process of designing and implementing programming for individuals with Alzheimer’s and other dementias. Learn practical strategies to strengthen volunteer engagement, enhance quality of life for participants, and integrate volunteer roles more fully within interdisciplinary care teams.
When ignored and unmanaged, it silently erodes performance, resilience, and both personal and organizational health. This session will examine the impact of compassion fatigue, showing how emotional strain inevitably leads to disengagement and performance decline when recovery is absent. Participants will explore how compassion fatigue differs from burnout and learn evidence-based leadership strategies — including boundaries, recovery practices, and supportive systems — to protect empathy, sustain resilience, and foster long-term professional well-being.
This session will explain why emergency preparedness is not only a Condition of Participation but a critical operational priority for providers. Learn how to develop and maintain an integrated plan, complete hazard vulnerability and risk assessments, and strengthen policies, procedures, training, testing, and communication. The presentation will emphasize real-world readiness and support teams in building a program that meets regulatory expectations and stands up to survey review.
It’s a familiar scenario: your frontline team does everything right, yet a patient or family still feels disappointed. With the simple, adaptable framework described in this presentation, staff can learn to respond with grace, empathy, and professionalism instead of panic or defensiveness. We’ll focus on practical language, emotional composure, and clear next steps, so complaints feel less like a threat and more like an opportunity to demonstrate that your organization takes concerns, accountability, and compassionate care seriously.
This essential webinar will equip your team to recognize the most frequent causes of denials and apply proven strategies that reinforce documentation before a review begins. We’ll detail how to audit records for compliance, identify documentation gaps, and implement best practices that promote billing accuracy. Safeguard revenue, reduce audit pressure, and maintain confidence through every stage of the Medicare review process.
It’s important for hospice and home health clinicians to know each patient’s baseline and to be able to identify physical, cognitive, and behavioral deviations quickly, especially since they so often work independently. This session will review how to observe, assess, communicate, and document changes in condition in a way that supports clinical decisions, appropriate levels of care, and regulatory requirements for continued services.
This session will explore how service history, moral injury, trauma exposure, and chronic social isolation shape the way many veterans think about treatment options, risk, trust, and autonomy. We’ll examine the frequent overlap of physical and mental health diagnoses and discuss why patience, active listening, and nonjudgmental curiosity are essential clinical skills when working with veterans. Learn practical approaches to conversations, care planning, and follow-through that respect each veteran’s story while promoting safety, dignity, and collaborative decision-making.
This session will explore why certain volunteer, patient, and team member personalities feel challenging and how perspective, communication style, and stress shape behavior. We’ll focus on real-world scenarios that Volunteer Managers face and provide practical strategies for coaching volunteers through conflict, miscommunication, and boundary issues. Learn how to respond instead of react, reframe difficult moments as teachable ones, and guide volunteers to thrive in their roles while upholding organizational values and a culture of respect.
End-of-life discussions challenge even experienced healthcare professionals. This session will explore the art of conveying sensitive information with clarity, compassion, and cultural awareness. Learn how timing, setting, and communication skills affect the way patients, caregivers, and families interpret difficult messages. We will share practical tools, real-life examples, and proven strategies to help healthcare providers deliver critical information with confidence and care.
This brass tacks session will review the core elements of a home health care plan, including how to identify patient problems, set realistic, measurable goals, and align interventions with regulatory expectations and payer rules. Learn strategies for episode management and efficient visit utilization, documentation practices that support coverage and reimbursement, and common pitfalls that trigger denials or survey findings. Discover ways to leverage the QAPI program to spot patterns, correct deficiencies, and continuously strengthen care planning and billing practices.
This timely presentation will address the full spectrum of electronic business records, from email and EHR-related communication to AI-generated content, social media, mobile messages, Zoom and Teams chats, apps, instant messaging, texting, and web activity. Failure to properly manage electronically stored information increases exposure to HIPAA penalties, lawsuits, sanctions, and audits — clear policies, staff education, and the right technology are essential safeguards.
This webinar will show social workers and chaplains how to design targeted programs and services for people living with dementia and the circles of support that surround them. We’ll discuss why dementia is now a leading hospice diagnosis and what that shift means for psychosocial and spiritual care roles. Explore practical models for assessing needs, structuring visits, engaging families, and integrating higher levels of support into the plan of care, so dementia-focused programming is intentional, consistent, and person centered.
Whether leading teams, navigating difficult conversations, or striving for personal growth, mastering self-management is essential for maintaining focus, confidence, and emotional stability in today’s fast-paced world. Through interactive discussions, real-world examples, and guided exercises, this enlightening session will be a deep dive into handling our emotions, behaviors, and decisions in ways that align with our values and goals. Learn proven strategies to regulate reactions, maintain motivation, adapt to change, and recover from challenges with confidence.
Join this enlightening presentation to explore how social workers and chaplains contribute directly to pain and symptom management by addressing the emotional, psychosocial, and spiritual dimensions of suffering within their scopes of practice. We’ll explore the interconnectedness of pain and suffering, highlight assessment cues that signal deeper distress, and introduce practical counseling approaches that can ease anxiety, fear, and existential pain. Gain concrete skills and language to collaborate with the team, support patients and families, and intervene more confidently.
