NHPCO Supports Congressional Efforts to Expand Palliative Care

An accomplished healthcare executive with more than 15 years of experience, Ken Haglind serves as president of Minnesota Hospice in Lakeville, Minnesota. Involved in the advancement of his profession outside of his everyday work, Ken Haglind maintains membership in the Minnesota Gerontological Society and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO).

In January 2019, NHPCO announced its support for a bill introduced in Congress that calls for more resources to grow the field of palliative care, as well as a push for awareness and education initiatives for both patients and palliative care professionals. H.R. 647 was sponsored by a group of six bipartisan representatives and co-sponsored by 25 others, and is similar to the Palliative Care and Hospice Education Training Act (PCHETA) that received House approval in 2018.

The bill provides resources to grow education in the palliative care field, as well as efforts to support research and higher learning. Absent the push to expand palliative medicine found in this bill, researchers say the field is set to shrink to the point that there will only be one palliative care doctor per 26,000 patients in just over a decade. In his comments, NHPCO President and CEO Edo Banach says efforts such as these are vital to meet the growing need for palliative care in the United States.

The NHPCO’s Family Evaluation of Palliative Care Performance Metric

Ken Haglind leverages decades of executive experience as president of Minnesota Hospice in Lakeville. A graduate of the University of Minnesota’s MBA program, Ken Haglind holds membership with professional organizations, including the Minnesota Gerontological Society and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO).

Since its founding in 1978, the NHPCO has advocated for the hospice and palliative care industry. The Virginia-based organization, the largest non-profit entity of its kind, strives to enhance the understanding of hospice and palliative care, while improving and expanding access to critical end-of-life services.

The NHPCO operates a Quality Resource Center designed to monitor and assess the quality of hospice care. In addition to standards of practice, operational guidelines, and a toolkit, the center tracks performance metrics that includes the Family Evaluation of Palliative Care (FEPC) survey. A post-death survey, the FEPC is designed for family members of a palliative care patient who has passed away. The survey captures how family members feel about the quality of care their loved one received.

For additional information on the FEPC survey and other performance metrics at the NHPCO, visit nhpco.org.