In This Issue
Partnership Updates:Health Care in the Media:
For many additional recent articles, please visit the "News" section of the Partnership website.
Partnership Poll
To participate in the poll, please click to view this email in a browser.
Want to tell us more? Join our Public Policy Committee, which is currently researching opioid access in DC, or share your thoughts on the listservs.
Improve the DC Comfort Care Order
We urge you to provide recommendations on how the Special Care Protocol could be improved to better serve the needs of DC residents. The Special Care Protocol regulates the implementation of the DC Comfort Care Order -- a DNR order for DC residents that is valid in all settings (i.e. in hospitals, in nursing homes, by EMS).
The Special Care Protocol for the DC Comfort Care Program is expected to be updated by the Department of Health in 2009. The Partnership will be forwarding suggested revisions to DOH based on your feedback.
The Special Care Protocol is available here on our website for your review. For more information about the Comfort Care Order, please visit our website.
To send us your feedback, please complete our online forms for health care professionals and/or patients and families, or contact us.
New Listservs
The Partnership has launched new listservs on palliative care and professional education where health care professionals and community members can connect to one another by email to discuss topics of importance to them. Please click here to sign up for the new listservs and add your voice to the conversation!
Professional Education Committee
The Partnership's Professional Education Committee was approached by Howard University College of Medicine to provide their medical residents with a one-hour presentation on palliative care beginning in the spring, as well as a half-day workshop on palliative care beginning in the autumn. The topic of the first presentation will be that "palliative care isn't just for cancer."
The Professional Education Committee is also coordinating an ELNEC training at the VA Medical Center on April 16 and 23. Read more about the training here.
In addition, the Professional Education Committee trains health care facilities in the implementation of the DC Comfort Care Order. Please contact us if you'd like to schedule a training for your facility. The Committee has predominantly worked with hospitals, but will soon train nursing homes and long-term care facilities.
The next meeting of the Professional Education Committee will take place in late March. To join the Committee or for more details about the meeting, please contact the Partnership.
Public Education Committee
The Public Education Committee is coordinating a series of interactive presentations on palliative and end-of-life care, including advance care planning and the DC Comfort Care Order. The first population targeted for outreach will be senior citizens. Please contact us if you'd like for the Public Education Committee to give a presentation at your facility.
The Committee is also developing brochures describing the CCO program that will be translated into the languages most frequently spoken in the District.
The next meeting of the Public Education Committee will take place in late March. To join the Committee or for more details about the meeting, please contact the Partnership.
Public Policy Committee
The Public Policy Committee is currently researching possible strategies to improve access to pain management medications in low-income neighborhoods in DC.
The Committee is also working to ensure that legislation and policy on the DC Comfort Care Order optimally serves patients and families in DC.
The Committee is currently developing lists of key stakeholders to interview about the Comfort Care Order and the accessibility of pain management medications. Please contact us to let us know if you would like to be interviewed about either subject.
The next meeting of the Public Policy Committee will take place in late March. To join the Committee or for more details about the meeting, please contact the Partnership.
Financial Development Committee
The Greater Washington Partnership is recruiting members for a new Financial Development Committee that will research and recommend funding sources to ensure the Partnership’s sustainability. Please contact us to join or more for information.
Join the Partnership
The Partnership needs the support of dedicated professionals and community members like you to make real changes in palliative and end-of-life care in Greater Washington. Please click here to read about volunteer opportunities with the Partnership.
About this E-Newsletter
The Greater Washington Partnership has created "The Partnership Perspective" to help keep you apprised of news and announcements on palliative and end-of-life care in our community.
- Sign up to receive the e-newsletter.
- Forward this message to a friend.
- View archives of the e-newsletter online.
Partnership Updates:
| Palliative Care Celebrated and Honored at Awards Reception | |
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| Ellen Lebedow receievs the Award for Media Excellence on behalf of JSSA Hospice. | Guests mingle at the Awards Reception. Photos courtesy of Brian Wheeler at CareFirst. |
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Over one hundred health care professionals and community members RSVP'd to join us in honoring high-quality palliative care at the Awards Reception for the CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield Palliative Care Awards, which occurred on February 23rd from 5:30 - 8:00 pm at IONA Senior Services. Guests mingled and networked while enjoying heavy hors d'oeuvre and an open bar, and learned from table-top displays assembled by the award-winners to promote their achievements. Then, everyone convened to observe the presentation of awards and cash prizes to each of the award-winners by John Lynch, MD, Board President of the Greater Washington Partnership. Guests were moved by inspiring speeches from each of the winners about the importance of their work and the necessity of promoting palliative care. Read more... Did you attend the 2008 Awards Reception? Share your thoughts about the Reception on our feedback form.Want to find out how you can win an Award? Look out for the 2009 Call for Nominations this fall. |
The Outstanding Palliative Care Award acknowledges a program in existence for more than five years. The New Palliative Care Award is for a program in existence between six months and five years. The Award for Media Excellence is for a media story published in the past year that has substantially increased public awareness of palliative care. To find out more about the 2008 winners, please view this PowerPoint Presentation that was displayed during the Reception. |
ELNEC Training Offered in April 2009 by the Partnership
The Greater Washington Partnership is coordinating an ELNEC training that will be held at the VA Medical Center on April 16 and April 23 from 8:30 am - 4 pm.
ELNEC (End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium) trains nurses in the specialized knowledge and skills required to provide the highest quality of care to patients facing the end of life (as well as their loved ones). ELNEC training is divided into eight modules: Palliative Nursing Care; Pain Management; Symptom Management; Ethical Issues in Palliative Care Nursing; Cultural Considerations in End-of-Life Care; Communication; Loss, Grief, and Bereavement; and Final Hours. Modules 1-4 will be taught on April 16, and modules 5-8 on April 23.
CEUs will be available for nurses.
Online registration will begin in early March. The Partnership will send out an email announcement when registration has opened. A registration fee of $60 includes training, study materials, as well as breakfast, lunch, and a snack on both dates.
Interested parties are encouraged to register as soon as possible to ensure that you will be able to attend because space is limited. Space will be available on a first come, first serve basis. Read more...
Now Hiring! Partnership Seeks Program Director
The Greater Washington Partnership is searching for a new, full-time Program Director.
The Program Director will be a palliative care expert who will direct the organization’s professional education and training programs. The individual will work to promote quality palliative care in applicable health care facilities. He or she will research and identify areas where palliative care services would improve the lives of DC residents living with serious illness, and work with area organizations to encourage the development of programs in areas identified to be in need.
Competitive salary; great benefits, including health, dental and vision; casual office with family mindset; on same block as Tenleytown metro.
Qualifications:
- 3-5 years working in palliative care
- Bachelors degree; Masters preferred in related field
- Working knowledge of Microsoft Office programs
- Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail
- Demonstrated excellence in communication and interpersonal skills
- Ability to exercise independent judgment and handle confidential information.
To apply, please email your resume and cover letter with salary requirements to Yolande Nanayakkara, Executive Director at jobs@gwpartnership.org.
Sign Up for the Partnership's Speakers Bureau
The Greater Washington Partnership coordinates a directory of experts willing share their knowledge and experience in palliative care at speaking engagements.
Sign up for the GWP Speakers Bureau and help raise awareness of palliative care while boosting your CV!
For more information or to sign up, please visit our website at http://gwpartnership.org/speakersbureau.html.
News and Announcements:
Medicare Funding Cuts for Hospice Halted By Stimulus Bill
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, signed into law by President Obama on February 17, includes a one-year moratorium on cuts to Medicare funding for hospice services. The funding cuts were issued last year through a CMS regulation that eliminates the Budget Neutrality Adjustment Factor, which impacts reimbursement rates for hospice services. $135 million in funding would have been withdrawn from hospice programs nationwide.
The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, among other organizations, fought valiantly over the past year to delay or reverse the hospice rate cuts. In the coming year, NHPCO will advocate to permanently overturn the reduction in funding for hospice services. The Partnership encourages you to get involved in their efforts to sustain high-quality end-of-life care by becoming an NHPCO Hospice Advocate.
The Partnership gratefully acknowledges local Congressman Chris Van Hollen of Maryland's 8th congressional district, without whose support the moratorium on the reimbursement reductions would not have been included in the stimulus bill.
- Read more about the hospice reimbursement rate cuts from NHPCO.
- Read more about the stimulus package at recovery.gov.
The District of Columbia no longer leads the United States in incidence rates of cancer mortality, according to new statistics published on February 10, 2009 by Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) of the National Cancer Institute analyzing data from 2001-2005. The District of Columbia is now sixth in incidence of cancer mortality in SEER's ranking of all fifty states plus the District. Please click here to explore the new data and rankings available on SEER's website.
The Greater Washington Partnership congratulates United Medical Center (formerly Greater Southeast Community Hospital) for regaining accreditation from The Joint Commission as of January 2009. We applaud United Medical Center's dedicated striving to improve health care options available in Southeast DC and the contiguous areas of Maryland. Please click here to read a press release from United Medical Center announcing their accreditation.
Health Care in the Media:
(from The New York Times, 2/10/09)
"Many doctors may lose their ability to prescribe 24 popular narcotics as part of a new effort to reduce the deaths and injuries that result from these medicines’ inappropriate use, federal drug officials announced Monday. A new control program will result in further restrictions on the prescribing, dispensing and distribution of extended-release opioids like OxyContin, fentanyl patches, methadone tablets and some morphine tablets." Read more...
Pediatrics Study: Involve Adolescents in End-of-Life Medical Decisions
(from Physorg.com, 2/9/09)
(from The Boston Globe, 2/16/09)
"Obstetrician Luann DePodesta has delivered life into this world for most of her career. She now spends much of her time helping to gently usher it out. In her care of terminally ill patients in Boston's northern suburbs, she has seen firsthand how a patient's desire to stop treatment can collide with a family's unwillingness to let them die. More than once, DePodesta has witnessed elders changing course and undergoing more medical intervention solely to ease the emotional pain of a distraught son or daughter." Read more...
Finding Effective Treatment For Your Chronic Pain
(from U.S. News and World Report, 2/10/09)
"Chronic pain is a problem that—when healthcare, lost income, and lost productivity are taken into account—is estimated to cost about $100 billion in the United States each year. More than a quarter of Americans age 20 or older, or about 76.5 million people, say they've experienced pain that lasted longer than 24 hours, according to the American Pain Foundation—and 42 percent have endured pain lasting longer than a year." Read more...