From Staff Reports

CHESTERFIELD-Hospice of Chesterfield County is pleased to announce its participation in a Quality Initiative through The Carolinas Center for Hospice and End of Life Care.  This is an effort to strengthen organizational excellence and hospice care delivery and outcomes on ten components of quality hospice care.

The Carolinas Center Board of Directors signed a pledge in 2006 to be a State Quality Partner in this national, cooperative effort which is directed by the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization.  As part of this initiative, The Carolinas Center has pledged to promote excellence in hospice care throughout both Carolinas.

“Every hospice operates under the same set of guidelines but, as with many healthcare providers, every hospice does not implement these guidelines with the consistency needed to ensure the highest quality hospice care throughout our two states,”  The Carolinas Center President and CEO Judy Brunger said.  “The overall goal of our Two-State Quality Initiative is to help hospice providers improve their care at the bedside of patients and families.  Providers need a consistent framework from which to work – one grounded in best practices and the best available research.  Our efforts are to work together with our providers to achieve the highest possible outcomes for hospice care.”

Hospice of Chesterfield County and other hospices making this strong commitment to quality care have the opportunity to track key performance indicators during the year through the QAPI Snapshot/Critical Indicators Benchmarking Project.  These performance indicators include patient outcomes and clinical quality, patient volume and mix, and quality practices covering both clinical and non-clinical operation effectiveness.  Tracking these indicators over the course of each year will enable participating hospice providers to identify improvement areas for ongoing effectiveness.

Each hospice participating in the project is benchmarked with other hospice providers in the state and nation to enable comparative analysis of their program.  Once areas are identified as opportunities for improvement, each provider will design performance improvement projects to address them.

Also, the newly introduced Medicare Hospice Conditions of Participation have been redesigned to focus on quality hospice care as an essential component of hospice operations.  These new regulations become effective December 2, 2008.  The Carolinas Center Quality Council is working to ensure that member hospices are receiving the necessary knowledge and tools to meet these Medicare requirements.

“Providing quality end-of-life care has been the top priority for Hospice of Chesterfield County for all of our 15 years of service to the community,” Hospice of Chesterfield County Executive Director John Douglas said.  “We are excited and pleased to carry our commitment to quality care to the next level through our participation in this beneficial initiative.”

Hospice is a program of care and supportive services designed to help terminally ill persons live as comfortably and fully as possible during the last stage of their life.  Hospice focuses on the maximum comfort and care of the terminally ill and provides support through an interdisciplinary team of doctors, nurses, social workers, clergy and volunteers.

Hospice of Chesterfield County is a non-profit, community-based organization founded by local churches and concerned citizens.  The organization has been serving local terminally residents and their families since 1993 and currently serves Chesterfield and Marlboro counties.