NHPCO NewsLine Winter 2020 - 13

QUALITY
CONNECTIONS:
A Value Add to NHPCO Membership
By Jennifer Kennedy
Every patient that
chooses hospice care
deserves an
experience infused
with quality. It is a
hospice provider's
responsibility to furnish
each of their patients
and families with
individualized education
and care to meet their
needs, expectations, and
goals for care above the
baseline of federal and state
regulations. This is the
foundation for quality hospice
care provision that facilitates a
good patient death and support
for family members left behind.
The hospice community has seen
increasing focus on hospice
quality of care from the federal
government in the past year. The
Medicare Payment Advisory
Commission (MedPAC) expressed
concern about hospice quality of
care issues in their March 2019
report to Congress. The Office of
the Inspector General (OIG) also
expressed concern about the
quality of hospice care in a report
titled Hospice Deficiencies Pose
Risks to Medicare Beneficiaries
posted in July 2019.
NHPCO has responded to federal
entities to offer guidance and

assistance related to compliance
and quality issues as well as
express our commitment to
improving the quality of care and
the experience of care for
seriously ill individuals and their
families. It is time to launch a
national initiative to help hospice
and palliative care providers
focus on quality improvement.

Quality Connections
The NHPCO Quality Connections
(QC) program is a national webbased program designed to support
hospice and community-based
palliative care providers in the
delivery of high-quality, personcentered interdisciplinary care.
There are four pillars in the
program with specific activities in
each one.
Education -
Continuous
quality
assessment and
performance
improvement is a requirement of
the hospice Medicare benefit
Conditions of Participation.
Understanding these concepts
and how to apply them within the
provision of hospice care requires
continuous shared learning. The
Education pillar of Quality
Connections moves participants

from novice to experts in QAPI.
Application - The
application pillar
activities are the
practical
application of
QAPI. Participants use the
application pillar tools to
implement plans and processes
to improve care and quality
outcomes.
Measurement
- The
measurement
pillar activities
support
comprehensive data collection,
analysis, and reporting. The
Measures of Excellence data
report includes benchmarking
with peers to identify areas of
opportunity for improvement and
the ability to monitor these areas
ongoing to evaluate effectiveness
of performance improvement
plans. Quarterly reports can be
shared with your Board of
Directors as part of your QAPI
program.
Innovation - The
innovation pillar
includes activities
to encourage
participants to
share knowledge, expertise, and

Newsline / Winter 2020

13
https://www.nhpco.org/qualityconnections/
NHPCO NewsLine Winter 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NHPCO NewsLine Winter 2020
