End-of-life Care Policy in a Post-Healthcare Reform World with Susan Dentzer is available for 90 days after enrollment.

This session was recorded at NHPCO’s 26th Management and Leadership Conference at National Harbor, Maryland.

Hospice, palliative and continuum of care providers have endured myriad changes as a result of legislative and regulatory reforms in the past ten years. The 2010 passage of the Affordable Care Act not only added another layer of complexity to the rules and regulations it also changed the context within which all future healthcare, related policy decisions will be made. Gone are the days when hospices could count solely on the positive reputation that they enjoyed on Capitol Hill, guaranteeing rate increases and favorable reception to NHPCO’s policy agenda. Today more than ever, healthcare policy is driven by two factors: economics and politics. In order for a legislative proposal to even merit consideration by your legislators, it has to include a “pay for” rationale. In other words, at a minimum we have to guarantee that proposals won’t cost the government any additional funds or a proposal is dead in the water.

Given the sea change in Congress in 2010, politicians are leery of supporting any legislation that could endanger their reelection campaign. The most glaring example is when a simple provision, offering voluntary advance care planning, became known as “death panels” in the healthcare reform debate. Yet research shows that hospice and palliative care providers can greatly enhance quality care and reduce costs for those in the last months and years of life.

Seasoned health and economics correspondent Susan Dentzer will explore the current political environment, providing tangible examples of ways that the end-of-life community can influence and participate in the evolving healthcare policy dialogue today and in the future.

Objectives:

• Identify specific factors that influence healthcare policy
• Discuss the role of hospice, palliative and continuum providers in implementing healthcare reform.

Susan Dentzer

Susan Dentzer is the Editor-in-Chief of Health Affairs, the nation’s leading journal of health policy, and an on-air analyst on health withThe NewsHour with Jim Lehrer on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).

Health Affairs, based in Bethesda, MD, appears bimonthly in print with additional online entries published weekly at www.healthaffairs.org. The journal and website are published by Project Hope, the health education and humanitarian assistance organization that operates programs in 36 countries around the world.

After a decade as the on-air health correspondent for The News Hour with Jim Lehrer on PBS, Dentzer assumed the job of Editor-in-Chief on May 1, 2008. She led a unit dedicated to providing in-depth coverage of health care and health policy and Social Security. The unit, begun in 1998, is funded by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Dentzer is the recipient of multiple awards for work at NewHour. In 2007, she received the American Society on Aging National Media Award for a two-part series on our current understanding of the causes of Alzheimer’s disease, efforts under way to speed treatments to patients, and the enormous burden faced by caregivers of Alzheimer’s patients. The unit's December 2005 and April 2005 pieces, "Wounded Soldier" and "Wounded Warrior," about a paralyzed and brain damaged soldier who was severely wounded in Iraq, won the 2005 Award for Excellence in Health Care Journalism from the Association of Health Care Journalists. The pieces also earned both a CINE Golden Eagle and New York Festival award. Prior to joining The NewsHour in 1998, Dentzer was chief economics correspondent and economics columnist for U.S. News & World Report, where she served from 1987 to 1997. In a series of columns and stories for U.S. News, she reported extensively on the debate over reforming and partially "privatizing" Social Security and over such health policy issues as regulation of managed care. Before joining U.S. News, Dentzer was at Newsweek, where she was a senior writer covering business news until 1987. Dentzer's work in television has also included appearances as a regular analyst or commentator on CNN and The McLaughlin Group.

Dentzer is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the International Rescue Committee, the nonprofit organization that works in relief, rehabilitation, protection, post-conflict development and resettlement services for those uprooted or affected by violent conflict and oppression worldwide. At IRC, Dentzer heads the Board's Health Committee, which oversees the organization's health programs in 25 countries. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Global Health Council, the world's largest membership organization of groups involved in global health, serving as Secretary on the Board and head of the board’s Nominating Committee. She serves on the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured as well as the advisory board of the California Health Benefits Review Committee and is a member of the National Advisory Committee for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Investigator Awards in Health Policy Research. Dentzer is also on the board of directors of the Friends of the National Institute for Nursing Research.

A graduate of Dartmouth, Dentzer holds an honorary Master of Arts degree from Dartmouth and an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Muskingum College, New Concord, Ohio. She is a member of the Board of Overseers of Dartmouth Medical School. She served on the Dartmouth College Board of Trustees from 1993 to June 2004 and was the first woman ever to serve as Chair of Dartmouth's board (2001-2001.) She is also a former trustee of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center serving in that capacity until 2004. In 2007, she received the Dartmouth Alumni Award, the highest honor given to Dartmouth alumni for service to the college.

Susan Dentzer has no relevant financial relationships to disclose.

In order to complete this online course and obtain CE/CME credit, the participant must view the entire course, correctly answer all quiz questions and complete the evaluation.

Course Release Date: 5/11/11

Course Expiration Date: 5/11/14

Counselor: NHPCO is recognized by the National Board of Certified Counselors, Inc. for continuing education for national Certified Counselors. NHPCO adheres to NBCC continuing Education Guidelines. This education activity is approved for 1.5 hours determined by the content, and counselors are awarded continuing education credit commensurate with the extent of their participation.

Nurse:  NHPCO is accredited as a provider of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.

NHPCO designates this enduring material for a maximum of 1.5 contact hours. Nurses should claim only the contact hours commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity. Accredited status by ANCC refers only to continuing nursing education and does not imply endorsement of any commercial product discussed in conjunction with this activity.

Physician: The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

NHPCO designates this enduring material for a maximum of 1.5 AMA PRA Category 1 credit(s) ™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Social Worker: NHPCO is an approved provider of continuing education contact hours by the National Association of Social Workers (provider #886414158). This education activity is approved for 1.5 hours determined by the content, and social workers are awarded continuing education hours commensurate with the extent of their participation.

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