By Avow It was a beautiful day in May when Jessica received the call informing her that her father had succumbed to a fatal heart attack. “Dad” was 77 and apparently suffering from undetected heart disease. The loss came as…
Lifestyle
FHPCA is proud to announce the Executive Committee Committee Chairs for 2015. The Committee Chairs drive FHPCA’s strategic plan initiatives and work hard to ensure FHPCA’s mission to assure excellence and access to hospice care, and advocate for the needs…
Florida Hospice & Palliative Care Association (FHPCA) is pleased to announce position changes to its Board Leadership and Executive Committee for 2015. Susan de Cuba, MA, ACHE, President & CEO, Treasure Coast Hospice, served as FHPCA’s Internal Vice President before…
Courtesy of HPH Hospice Picture this: Your mother has broken her arm and it’s time to make her traditional pecan pie for the holidays. It’s easy to see that it would be difficult for her to make the pie this…
November is Hospice & Palliative Care Month (read Governor Scott’s proclamation) and a great time to learn more about the wonderful services hospice and palliative care provides patients and families. What is hospice and palliative care? Hospice and palliative care…
By Paul Ledford, President & CEO, FHPCA In 2010, Florida Hospice & Palliative Care Association adopted a position in opposition to physician-assisted suicide. It is our commitment to the value of life and to the optimization of the quality of…
DEA Releases New Rules That Create Convenient But Safe and Secure Prescription Drug Disposal Options
This article is from the US Department of Justice + Drug Enforcement Administration On September 8th the U. S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA’s) Final Rule for the Disposal of Controlled Substances, which implements the Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act of…
(Alexandria, VA) – Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate passed the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation Act of 2014 (IMPACT Act), legislation which includes hospice integrity provisions that are backed by the hospice community. The National Hospice and…
By Mery Lossada, MD Chief Medical Officer, Hospice of Marion County On July 18, 2014, Medicare replaced a policy it had put into place just four months previous. The policy it drew up in March threw hospices and their patients…
Medicare has announced significant changes in the hospice drug coverage rules, prompting cheers from many patient advocates within and beyond the hospice community. Many feared that the original changes would have had disastrous effects on quality of care by limiting…
The recent article, “How Dying Became a Multibillion-Dollar Industry” published by the Huffington Post, spoke on the increasing business of hospice care. This article attempted to prove that hospice is turning big business and quality of patient care is suffering…
By Wendy Melton Abbott, Team Leader, Big Bend Hospice As a hospice nurse, I often find that when families learn all that hospice care has to offer, they are both relieved and concerned: relieved that the comprehensive list of…
Orlando, FL. – On May 22nd, in conjunction with the 29th Annual Forum “The Journey Continues: Elevating Clinical Practice to New Heights”, Florida Hospice & Palliative Care Association (FHPCA) announced the 2014 winners of the annual Awards of Excellence…
Florida Hospice & Palliative Care Association (FHPCA) is pleased to announce that we won the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization’s (NHPCO) 2014 Trailblazer Award for our “Congressional Advocacy Notebook” project. The Trailblazer Award recognizes state organizations demonstrating high levels…
Being the primary caregiver for a loved one can be a rich, rewarding experience. It can also be hugely challenging and draining. While providing 24-hour care to individuals who cannot care for their own basic needs – eating, drinking, using…
“What is Palliative Care?” Article provided by Gulfside Hospice & Pasco Palliative Care Mary is in her 70s and has chronic emphysema – but she is not terminal and does not qualify for hospice care. She has been to…
Know a person or a program that deserves recognition? Nominate them for FHPCA’s Awards of Excellence! WHAT ARE THE AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE? Excellence in the delivery of hospice and palliative care is the hallmark of hospice providers and professionals in…
For over 30 years, FHPCA has worked toward the betterment of hospice through the commitment of our members and our Board Leadership. We are pleased to announce the new additions to our Board Leadership and Executive Committee. “We feel…
The grief journey never looks or feels the same for those that have lost loved ones. Grieving patterns differ depending on the relationship, the passing, and the season in the surviving member’s life. No one can truly understand what a…
The Hospice House Difference By Patricia Klein, Sr. Public Relations Specialist, Good Shepherd Hospice and Abby Vandegrift, Communications & Policy Coordinator, Florida Hospice & Palliative Care Association Judy Goll will always remember October 22, 2011. Even though doctors had…
Television viewers are afforded a rare glimpse into the lives of hospice patients in the one-hour special program, “Hospice: Something More” premiering Thursday, November 7 at 9pm ET on RLTV. The program was produced by Hospice Foundation of America and…
November is Hospice & Palliative Care Month and is not only a great time to recognize the excellent end-of-life care provided in Florida, but also an opportunity to support hospice programming through the purchase of the Specialty Hospice License Plate….
By VNA of the Treasure Coast For many caregivers, taking care of a loved one means much more than medication reminders and preparing meals. More arduous tasks such as wound care become part of the responsibilities of the caregiver….
by VNA of the Treasure Coast Volunteering doesn’t just serve as a benefit to the community, it can also serve as a benefit to your health. Studies have shown that seniors who volunteer regularly increase their mental and physical…
by VNA of the Treasure Coast When a loved one is diagnosed with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, (COPD), there are certain things that you, as the caregiver, should know. It is important that you understand the various aspects…
News
This year’s Forum was a great success! While we are preparing follow-up emails, evaluations, attendee lists, and CEU information to go out this week, don’t forget to mark your calendar for 2025:
Upcoming Events
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12:00 PM - Reimagining Your Patient & Family Experience
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12:00 PM - Top-Notch Volunteer Training & Programming
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Hospice and home care agencies are discovering that superior customer service experiences lead to increased satisfaction, which, in turn, brings greater compliance with treatments and clinical outcomes. And, sometimes important lessons are learned from outside the healthcare industry.
Join us to learn the essential elements needed to strengthen patient and family experiences. It’s critical to understand the importance of handling an inquiry call, the first 24 hours of being on service, and how to innovate your delivery system to drive excellence. In short, there are strong mission and business reasons to focus on creating an improved patient and family experience.
Accurate hospice eligibility documentation is critical to fulfilling the CoPs and payment requirements. The lack of supporting documentation for a terminal prognosis is the number one reason for denial. Reviewers often look for a significant decline in patient condition. Although this is not a requirement of hospice care, a terminal prognosis is.
This webinar will help clinicians document the slightest changes in baseline measures. More importantly, it will explain how to capture the changes that support terminal prognosis – even without a decline in baseline measures. Go beyond the LCDs and common tools for documenting eligibility by drilling down to the details and characteristics that differentiate terminal and chronic patients with the same diagnosis.
WEBINAR DETAILS
Emails, text messages, instant messages, direct messages, social media marketing, online review responses... so much of our daily work is now communicated through the written word rather than the spoken word. Unfortunately, much of it is not well written. Join us to learn how written communication impacts your effectiveness and reputation, and how you can stand out with your team and clients as a great communicator!
How would you respond if a surveyor suddenly walked into your agency for survey today? Would your stress level be off the charts? What if you could have your agency at a state of survey readiness year-round? Is it even possible? This webinar will explain the steps to becoming perennially survey ready by using your QAPI program as an evaluation tool, preparing your staff for survey visits, and learning how to design a mock survey.
What does it take to move from being an adequate volunteer manager to an exceptional volunteer manager? To start with, you need good critical thinking skills and the ability to engage in creative problem-solving. Today’s volunteer manager must be assertive, solution-focused, and possess the ability to anticipate requests before they are received. This webinar will address what it takes to become an exceptional volunteer manager no matter how large or small your program may be.
This webinar will detail how a personal care/private duty service can strengthen and develop your current care continuum and how it adds value to your referral sources and current patient base. Learn what goes into developing a personal care service and the key ingredients for success. This session will provide practical advice, lessons, and tools to start a personal care service. Learn how a personal care service can contribute to an organization’s financial success.
Time to get off the "recruit, train, recruit, train" merry-go-round. If you are losing volunteers as fast as you get them, something is seriously wrong. One major mistake is failing to ensure your program is volunteer friendly and receptive. Volunteers should know that leadership is committed to providing them with the experience they seek. This program will cover everything you need to know about getting and keeping volunteers to meet the needs of patients, families, and your organization.
Do you know the top 10 misunderstood hospice regulations? This webinar will enhance your understanding, ensure compliance, optimize your hospice operations, and improve the quality of care provided to your patients.
Plan of Care and Contents: What is required and moving beyond cookie-cutter plans.
Attending Physician: The importance of understanding CMS intentions and addressing low participation rates. Why is high participation a good thing?
Patient and Family Assessment: Discover best practices for admissions and assessments, including the role of medical records, history, talking with patients and families, physical examinations, and admissions. Who can make a referral and/or request hospice services?
Eligibility: Learn about enhancing admission nurses’ assessment skills, presentation of hospice eligibility to physicians, and the inherent pitfalls.
Eligibility Variability: This section will address variability among hospice physicians. What should be done when you have deemed a patient not eligible, and another hospice immediately admits the patient and says they are eligible?
Eligibility Education: There is a lack of education and training within hospices about what makes a patient legally eligible for hospice. Utilization of change of terminal diagnosis, discharge, and revocation will be covered.
Information: What is really required for hospice informational consent, and election of benefits? How do families feel about the admission process? Why do most hospices give out too much information?
Initial Assessment: Clarifying best practices and common misunderstandings.
Comprehensive Assessment: Who does what, when, and by what deadlines. Explore how to improve thoroughness and accuracy.
Survey Awareness: Best practices for CAHPS survey awareness, including misconceptions and how to increase participation.
Bonus: How to handle a transfer and how long you should wait on the other hospice.
Is your volunteer training just an exercise in jumping through hoops? Is it boring or exciting? Is it short and sweet or comprehensive and based on the principles of adult learning? Are your volunteers so impressed by your training that they tell everyone they know that they have to volunteer with you, if for no other reason than to attend this fabulous education experience?
A high-quality training course followed by ongoing educational opportunities is the first step to building a strong program. Then moving from training to creative programming is essential to ensuring volunteers receive a meaningful experience and patients and families receive the best possible care.
This webinar will delve into the transformative power of recognizing and acknowledging workplace contributions. Attendees will discover actionable strategies for creating a culture of appreciation that not only boosts employee morale, but also significantly enhances team performance. Through examples and practical tips, participants will be empowered to implement meaningful gestures of appreciation and foster a work environment where individuals feel valued and motivated and ultimately contribute to the organization’s overall success.
