Founded in 1980, the Illinois Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (IL-HPCO) is committed to promoting and enhancing end-of-life care in the state of Illinois, through education, advocacy, technical and supportive services. Our mission is to expand access to exceptional hospice and palliative care for patients and families coping with the close of life experience.
Free Dementia Care Comfort Guide
Free Dementia Care Comfort Guide
The Alzheimer’s Association-Greater Illinois Chapter is pleased to offer a free online resource, Encouraging Comfort Care: A Guide for Families of People with Dementia Living in Care Facilities. This 21-page booklet provides useful information to families and staff of long-term care facilities about Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, particularly care issues related to the late and final stages.
For families, this guide will enable them to make informed choices about a variety of medical decisions they may face on behalf of loved ones with dementia living in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and other types of care facilities. It will also equip families to ask good questions aimed at obtaining the best care for their loved ones, including a handy checklist of comfort care measures to be discussed with staff members of care facilities.
For staff members of long-term care facilities, the guide will serve as an important tool for those who wish to educate families and assist them in care planning.Individuals and organizations are encouraged to disseminate this booklet in electronic and print formats.
Encouraging Comfort Care was made possible through a generous grant from the Retirement Research Foundation to the Alzheimer’s Association-Greater Illinois Chapter.
To view and download the free guide, click here: www.alz.org/illinois
CMS-1390-N on Display at the Federal Register
CMS-1390-N (Medicare Program; Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems and Fiscal Year 2009 Rates: Final Fiscal Year 2009 Wage Indices and Payment Rates) went on display at the Federal Register on September 29, 2008. The Notice includes tables listing the final wage indices, hospital reclassifications, payment rates, impacts, and other related tables effective for fiscal year (FY) 2009. It will be published on October 3. To view the Notice, go to the web page.
By purchasing the Illinois Hospice License Plate, you contribute to the Illinois Hospice Fund administered by the Illinois Department of Public Health for the distribution of grants for hospice services. There is a $25 issuance fee, $10 of which goes to the Hospice Fund and $15 covers the costs of producing the plate. The renewal also has the $25 fee; however, $23 will go to the Illinois Hospice Fund and $2 covers the administrative costs. more..
Hospice Compliance Network
The best resource for managers and
compliance professionals
Membership is Discounted
for
Illinois Hospice & Palliative Care Members
The Hospice Compliance Network (HCN) launched in 2000 by Summit Business Group, LLC promotes the establishment of comprehensive compliance programs based on ethical business practices that prevent fraud and abusive behavior, but not at the cost of limiting appropriate access to hospice care. By providing the compliance information hospices need and a support system for compliance officers the Hospice Compliance Network hopes to promote an environment of regulatory compliance and quality hospice care.
Membership in the HCN includes the Hospice Compliance Letter, published quarterly and edited by renowned hospice writer, Larry Beresford. Click Here for a sample Hospice Compliance Letter.
Membership also provides access to the HCN Listserv allowing the sharing of questions and ideas on how to meet the day to day challenges of compliance and management. All postings on the Listserv are archived, for easy reference. Members have additionally shared forms, policies and procedures which are available for downloading.
The optional service of the Hospice Guidance Line is available for HCN members for a nominal annual fee. This service provides compliance with the OIG’s guidance suggesting the availability of a confidential internal “hotline” to enable employees, volunteers and others to anonymously report concerns related to fraud and abuse.
IL-HCPO members will now enjoy a 40% discount for new and renewing members of HCN. Click Here for a Membership Form.
For additional information about services and membership, visit our web site at HospiceCompliance.net.
866.229.0132
News:
CMS ISSUES HOSPICE RATES FOR FY 2012
On August 4, 2011, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published in the Federal Register the hospice wage index for fiscal year 2012, which begins on October 1, 2011. Attached you will find the hospice rates for FY 2012 for the state of Illinois. The rates were released in CMS Transmittal 2260 on July 29, 2011.
Member News:
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