[3159] Meeting Expectations in Hospice Medicine: Adopting a Total Patient Care Philosophy to Avoid Unnecessary Transitions
Explores the expectations of patients and their families while also addressing the increasing expectations of payers.
TAHC&H CONFERENCE RECORDING: This program was presented on 02/14/2019 at the Texas Association of Home Care & Hospice Winter
Policy Conference in Austin. It is one of 9 presentations captured and produced for online access. Subscribers receive 24/7 on-demand access from both
home and office during the subscription period shown at the bottom of this page.
Presentation Info:
- Presentation Date: February 14, 2019
- TAHC&H Event: TAHC&H Winter Policy Conference | Austin
Education-Training Credits:
- TX HCSSA Administrator/Alternate Continuing Education
CE Approval Statements:
· This program meets continuing education requirements
for Administrators and Alternates under Texas HCSSA licensing regulations.
HCSSA Topic(s) Addressed:
- §558.259[d][4]agency responsibilities
- §558.260[a][8]skills for working with clients, families, and other professional service providers
Program Description: Transitions in care would seem on the surface
to be a "non-issue" in hospice medicine, but with increasing complexity and segmentation of care for the
seriously ill, patients often enter hospice from the acute care system with unrealistic expectations of
what is needed and what will be provided. Often unnecessary emergency department visits and hospitalizations
result, as well as demands for services not part of the standard hospice plan of care. This program
explores not only addressing the expectations of patients and their families, but also addressing the
increasing expectations of payers. A vision for the future of optimal care of the seriously ill is
presented, acknowledging the daunting steps needed for the evolution of a hospice organization towards
a "full service" model, as our organizations enter into a time of increased demand, regulatory uncertainty,
quality-based scrutiny, and fiscal constraint.
Program Learning Outcome:
- Participants will actively engage in the learning activity and indicate an intent to change their practice by incorporating
effective communication strategies and comprehensive care plans to avoid unnecessary transitions of care.
TAHC&H Faculty/Presenter: J. Robert Parkey, MD, MTS, HMDC, CMD, Hospice of Wichita Falls/Palliative Care of North Texas, Healing Hands Home Health
About the Presenter:
J. Robert Parkey is a sixth-generation native of the Wichita Falls area, and
received his Doctorate in Medicine from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, and then completed his residency in Family Medicine
at the University of Oklahoma campus in Tulsa, where he served as Chief Resident. In 2010, he completed a Masters degree in Theological Studies
from the University of Dallas in Irving, with a personal emphasis in Biomedical Ethics.
Dr. Parkey practiced rural medicine in Henrietta, Texas for 17 years, but found a special love for the care of the elderly,
those with dementia, and for patients with terminal and life-limiting illnesses, expanding his medical specialization and joining the medical staff of
Hospice of Wichita Falls in 2008, then closing his rural practice in 2013. He is a member of numerous medical societies, including the American Academy
of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, the Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care, the American Geriatrics Society, the American Society for
Bioethics and Humanities, and the Catholic Medical Association.
His “spare time” is filled caring for his family ranch in Clay County, and trying to keep up with his wife Katie
(a Registered Nurse who helps him run his private practice and who serves in a number of volunteer capacities in the area) and their three
daughters. His hobbies include fishing and literature, and he is a member of the Wichita Falls Poetry Society, the Texas Poetry Society, and
the Academy of American Poets.
Dr. Parkey holds board certifications in Hospice and Palliative Medicine, Family Medicine, and board
certification by the Hospice Medical Director Certification Board. He also holds board certification from the American Board of
Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine.
[3159] Meeting Expectations in Hospice Medicine: Adopting a Total Patient Care Philosophy to Avoid Unnecessary Transitions