The information below describes factors the Governance Committee will weigh when evaluating prospective board members. Nominees are encouraged to address these qualities in their nomination materials.  The committee will strive to prepare a slate that best meets these criteria. Individual nominees are not expected to have all of the characteristics described.

2013 Strategic Priorities and Key Initiatives, with Board Member Expectations

Priority Needs for Board of Directors in 2014

2013 Strategic Priorities and Key Initiatives, with Board Member Expectations

Lead the Hospice Palliative Care Continuum

• Pursue a comprehensive healthcare policy agenda
• Protect the Medicare Hospice Benefit and expand it to include advanced illness management and palliative care
• Spearhead data acquisition, analysis and results
• Increase hospice capacity to provide hospice palliative care services
• Champion access to the right care at the right time for all people
• Empower consumers to make informed decisions

Expectations

• understand how broader health care trends influence end-of-life care. 
• promote and facilitate relationships with other national organizations to advance the care continuum.
• demonstrated history of identifying emerging leaders at the community and state level and encouraging them to participate in NHPCO. 
• exemplify NHPCO’s leadership philosophy which promotes the utilization of management and leadership skills within the context of hospices values.
• demonstrated efforts to promote NHPCO membership and engagement to other providers.
  • contribute to the organization’s efforts to help providers engage in new programs or models such as PACE, Medicare Advantage, ACOs, long term care, assisted living and group quarters.
  • support efforts to expand the Medicare Hospice Benefit through demonstration projects.
• effectively communicate NHPCO’s message in the policy arena.
• familiar with current federal legislative issues affecting end-of-life care and able to articulate the opportunities and threats they present to hospice and palliative care.
• have a general understanding of the legislative process.

Implement a Strategic Communications Initiative

• Launch Affirming campaign
• Enhance the media presence of NHPCO
• Implement ehospice - USA

Expectations

• Support the organizational focus on public and communications initiatives.

Champion Excellence in the Delivery of Hospice Palliative Care

• Implement the quality seal as recognition of superior achievement in organizational excellence
• Foster an environment of compliance excellence
• Create a transformative Institute for education and innovation
• Partner with diverse stakeholders

Expectations

• clear understanding of NHPCO’s Standards of Practice for Hospice Programs.
• familiar with national trends in quality measurement and improvement, to include initiatives such as Home Health and Nursing Home Compare.
• working knowledge of the key national stakeholders in the quality arena such as the National Quality Forum.
• have a command of the regulatory and compliance issues that influence end-of-life care including emerging trends that may become a regulatory or compliance issue.
• understanding of the regulatory processes, including how changes in policy priorities at CMS and the Department of Health and Human Services can impact hospice and palliative care.
• collaborate with other organizations on regulatory issues.
• understanding of NHPCO’s performance measures, including: End Result Outcome Measures (EROM), Family Evaluation of Bereavement Services (FEBS), Family Evaluation of Hospice Care (FEHC), Family Evaluation of Palliative Care (FEPC), National Data Set (NDS), and Survey of Team Attitudes and Relationships (STAR).
• program participates in the National Data Set.
• familiar with NHPCO’s educational offerings including conferences, Webinars, the Hospice Manager Development Program and Executive Leadership offerings.

Strengthen the National Center/Expand the Revenue Base

• Retain quality staff and improve performance
• Expand the use of emerging technologies
• Strategically build an international presence
• Raise the visibility of the National Center

Expectations

• understand how the business model of a national association differs from that of a hospice or palliative care provider.
• understand the need for each board member to support and lead fundraising efforts. 
• significant fundraising experience is beneficial.
• describe the rationale for establishing the National Center for Care at the End of Life and the benefits of a capital campaign.

Priority Needs for Board of Directors in 2014

The following items are drawn from an assessment of the board characteristics grid.  They highlight areas the committee should consider in recruiting and evaluating nominees.

• Increasing Diversity of Provider Types.  Of the twenty two board members affiliated with hospice or palliative care providers, eighteen are affiliated with freestanding hospices.  One is affiliated with a home-health agency and three are hospital/system based. 
• Incorporation status.  There are two board members affiliated with for-profit providers and twenty affiliated with not-for-profit providers. 
• Continuum of Care.  Includes hospices providing services beyond what is recognized as the traditional hospice model.
• Program size.  There are no board members from medium sized programs (ADC between 351 and 600) and only one from small programs (ADC<51).
• Ethnic Diversity.  There is little ethnic diversity on the board. 
• Managed Care Background.  As managed care becomes a larger part of the Medicare program (Medicare Advantage) it is important to have board members with experience providing hospice care to managed care beneficiaries.
• Educational background.  There are three members with social work backgrounds, two with business management, one with a geriatrics background, and one with a background in spiritual care.
• Fundraising.  With the continuation of the Capital Campaign for the National Center for Care at the End of Life, NHPCO needs experienced fundraisers on its board.
• Business/finance background.  Candidates should have the skills needed to perform the board’s fiduciary oversight role.  Most hospice executives will have sufficient financial skills to provide appropriate financial oversight.  While it is valuable to have financial technicians on the board, the number of such experts can be limited.

Areas of Expertise

• Nursing is well represented on the board.
• Four physicians serve on the current board
• Freestanding hospices: eighteen of twenty two providers on the board are affiliated with freestanding programs.
• The Southeast Geographic Areas is well represented. 
• Non-profit incorporation status, twenty of the twenty two provider members are with non-profit programs.
• Members having Leadership roles with state hospice organization are valuable on the NHPCO board.  Most board members have had significant state organization experience; a number have served at least one term as a state organization president or Board of Directors chair.  The Council of States Chair serves as an executive director of a state organization.