October 31-November 2, 2021
Sheraton Crown Center, Kansas City, Missouri

About the Conference
The Midwest Regional Conference on Palliative and End of Life Care is sponsored by the Missouri Hospice & Palliative Care Association. The conference is designed to assist health care professionals in understanding the health care issues when treatment changes from curative to palliative care. Palliative care focuses on comfort and quality of life. Palliative care is the foundation of hospice services; however, the principles are applicable to any setting where care is being provided to the terminally ill.

Purpose
The Midwest Regional Conference on Palliative & End of Life Care seeks to provide education for a multidisciplinary group of health care professionals to increase the quality of end of life care.

Target Audience
Physicians and their staff, Hospital Nurses, Social Workers, Discharge Planners, Hospice Nurses, Administrators, Medical Directors, Chaplains, Volunteers, Volunteer Coordinators, Bereavement Coordinators, Nursing Home Administrators and their staff, Ethics Committees, Long-Term Care Nurses, Palliative Care Nurses, and any health care professional in any discipline where hospice and palliative care is needed and provided.

Conference Goals
Improve standards of practice through education of professionals and others involved in providing end of life care;
Improve access to appropriate end of life care through the alignment of individualized needs with available care;
Stimulate dialogue on ethical issues related to end of life care.

Conference Outcomes
Describe and apply tools used to identify patients appropriate for end of life care;
Use effective pain and symptom management medications and treatments to improve outcomes;
List communication tools to improve difficult and painful discussions of end of life care concerns, and apply to practice;
Examine current policies and regulations for providers of end of life care.

Special Events/Important Notices

Handouts – Each registrant will be provided information on how to download conference handouts prior to the conference. Anticipated posting date will be October 1, 2021. Registrants will need to print a copy of the workshop handouts they have selected prior to arrival if they wish to have a hard copy while at the conference. THERE WILL BE NO PRINTING CAPABILITIES ON SITE. If registrants would prefer to purchase a bound copy, it is available for $50 and must be ordered on the Conference Registration Form at the time of registration. Only conference
registrants may purchase handouts.

Silent Auction – Hospice agencies donate many wonderful items for the silent auction. Conference attendees will want to visit the auction table on Monday afternoon and on Tuesday until 10:15am. Bring your checkbook. carry home some wonderful purchases and have fun.
Please support MHPCA by shopping the silent auction!

Exhibitor’s Reception – Sunday, October 31st from 5:00pm – 7:00pm – Each conference attendee is invited to the Exhibitor’s reception on Sunday evening. Attendees are encouraged to meet the exhibitor’s and vendors and share development ideas to improve the delivery of end of life care.

Monday Box Lunch – Monday, November 1st from 11:00am – 12:00p in the Exhibit Hall – Enjoy a boxed lunch while catching up with colleagues, visiting with exhibitors or just taking a quick minute to gather your thoughts.

Game Night – Monday, November 1st from 4:00p – 6:00pm in the Exhibit Hall – Challenge the exhibitors in fun-filled games and activities! You will not want to miss this event!

Sunrise Yoga – Tuesday, November 2nd from 6:00AM – 7:00M – Provided by It’s Flexy

Networking Breakfast – Tuesday, November 2nd from 7:00AM – 8:00AM – Engage your peers in conversation while enjoying breakfast in the exhibit hall.

Networking Lunch – Tuesday, November 2nd from 12:00pm – 1:00pm – Discuss issues and ideas from the conference sessions with your peers. Exchange experiences and enhance your conference attendance.

Hotel Information
Hotel Registration:
Sheraton Crown Center
Kansas City, MO
By Phone: 866-837-4214 and reference group name Missouri
Hospice and Palliative Care Association. Room Block: MHPCA has reserved a block of rooms for a rate of $149.00 per night. The cut off date to get this discounted rate is October 10th. (The group rate will not be available after the cut off date.) If an attendee needs a room a day before or after, or a
room type not specified, please call 866-837-7214 to speak with a hotel reservationist. To book online, visit mohospice.org for the hotel reservation link.
Limited Liability: MHPCA is not responsible for airline or hotel reservations prior to purchase of non-refundable or penalty airline tickets. MINIMUM and
MAXIMUM ENROLLMENTS have been established. The liability of MHPCA is limited to the conference registration fee.

Self Parking daily rate is $22.00 per day.
Valet Parking daily rate is $18.00
Valet parking overnight rate is $28 per night.
The hotel policy on masks follows CDC Guidelines.

Unvaccinated attendees are required to wear a mask.
For fully vaccinated attendees, masks are optional.
Hotels can be chilly!
Don’t forget to bring a sweater or a jacket!

Important Information Regarding the Conference
ONLINE REGISTRATION FOR THE PRECONFERENCE AND THE CONFERENCE is at www.mohospice.org. If you pay by check, please include with your mailed check the name of the person registering or a copy of your email confirmation. MHPCA member rates are provided to Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Illinois Hospice Association members and to National Hospice & Palliative Care Association members.

Registration for the MHPCA Conference does not include the DHSS Pre-Conference or the Palliative Care Pre-Conferene presentations. To attend both the Pre-conference session and the Main Conference, you must register for each individually.
Early registration ends October 14. A $50.00 late fee is assessed beginning October 15th.
Registration closes on October 22nd.
Bound copies of conference material will be available for a $50.00 printing charge. All bound copies must be ordered at the time of registration.
There is a $25.00 fee for processing continuing education credits.
Please be aware that conference fees are non-refundable, but substitutions are welcome.
Please be sure to use your Medicare Federal ID number as your membership number or you will be
charged the nonmember rate.

Key Note Speaker – Monday, Nov. 1st -12:15pm – 1:15pm
Debra Oliver, MSW, PhD
Debra Parker Oliver, MSW, PhD joined the Division of Palliative Medicine in the Department of Internal Medicine as the inaugural holder of the Ira Kodner Endowed Professor for Supportive Care in October of 2020. She also has an appointment in the Goldfarb School of Nursing. She was born in St. Joseph, Missouri and graduated from the University of Missouri with a Master’s degree in Social Work and a PhD in Rural Sociology. She was a Professor at the University of Missouri Department of Family Medicine for 20 years prior to moving to Washington University.

Dr. Parker Oliver is an internationally known researcher in hospice care. She has been a Principal Investigator on three NIH funded R01 awards from three separate institutes (Nursing, Aging, and Cancer). Her work focuses on testing of behavioral interventions with caregivers for patients in hospice and palliative medicine. She has authored 200 peer reviewed publications, and one text book titled: Behavioral Interventions in Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Dr. Parker Oliver is a Senior Associate Editor for the second leading journal in Palliative Medicine, the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. Dr. Parker Oliver is also the first nonphysician member of the Board of Directors for the Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.She is a requested conference speaker as she shares her personal caregiving story. Her award- winning book titled, Legacies From the Living Room: A Love Grief Equation tells the story of her personal caregiving journey with her husband through treatment, palliative care, hospice and bereavement.

Cultivating Professional Resilience
In this Key Note conference session, Debra Oliver will address how hospice clinicians have exprienced extreme moral distress in the past year. They have dealt not only with their usual stressors with dying patients and their families but also stress as they have had to deal with the restrictions in place due to COVID 19 and its impact on their personal lives as well as the lives of patients and families. This session will embrace the experiences they understand of family caregivers and turn it into lessons to build their resilience so they can be stronger professional caregivers themselves.

Breakout 11/02/21 – 1:45pm – 2:45pm
The Invisible Transitions Inside the Labyrinth of Caregiving
The journey through terminal illness is challenging for patients however, their caregivers have a separate and equally difficult journey as well. The challenges of caregivers are not understood and not usually treated by clinicians.

Key Note Speaker – Tuesday, Nov. 2nd – 8:00am – 10:00am
Jennifer Kennedy, EdD, MA, BSN, RN CHC
Jennifer Kennedy, EdD, MA, RN, BSN, CHC, has sixteen plus years experience with professional education and staff development for all members of the hospice interdisciplinary team and 28 years as a nurse/manager/director in the hospice, home health, and community health care realm, with a focus
on education, quality, compliance, and operations.

Hospice Regulatory Update
This session will identify the “hot” regulatory issues in the hospice industry and how they affect hospice providers and the hospice industry as a whole. The scrutiny of hospice claims, provision of care, and on what “hot spots” they are fixating focus. The climate within CMS and the federal government about hospice care is very important. She will identify and locate resources available. Also she will do a review of the current hospice pertinent topics with detail such as new CMS guidance, survey and certification updates, and quality reporting update.

Conference Schedule
Sunday, October 31st
5:00-7:00pm – Opening Reception with Exhibitors
Monday, November 1st
7:00AM – Registration opens
8:00AM – 11:00AM – Pre-conference-DHHS Bureau Update
8:00AM – 10:30AM – Palliative Care Pre-conference
10:00AM – 6:00PM – Exhibit Area Opens
12:00PM – Conference Opens
12:15PM – 1:15PM – Keynote Session – Debra Oliver
1:15PM – 1:45PM – Spotlighting Exhibit Area/Marketplace
1:45PM – 2:45PM – Concurrent Session I
2:45PM – 3:15PM – Break
3:15PM – 4:15PM – Concurrent Session II
4:00PM – 7:00PM – Game Night Exhibit Hall
Tuesday, November 2nd
7:00AM – Registration opens
7:00AM – 1:00PM – Exhibit Area Opens in the Exhibit Hall
8:00AM – 10:00AM – Keynote Session – Jennifer Kennedy
10:00AM – 10:30AM – Spotlighting Exhibit Area/Marketplace
10:15AM – Spotlighting Exhibit Area/Marketplace
10:30AM – 12:00PM – Silent Auction Closes
12:00PM – Networking Lunch & Exhibit Area
1:15PM – 2:45PM – Concurrent Session IV
2:45PM – 3:00PM – Break
3:15PM – 4:30PM – Concurrent Session V

Pricing Information
Members
$305.00 – Main Conference (Includes Reception on Sunday, Lunch on Monday, Breakfast &
Lunch on Tuesday) Save by registering for both days!
$175.00 – Monday Only – (Includes Reception and Monday Box Lunch)
$220.00 – Tuesday Only – (Includes Breakfast & Lunch)
Nonmembers
$380.00 – Main Conference (Includes Reception on Sunday, Lunch on Monday, Breakfast &
Lunch on Tuesday)
$205.00 – Monday Only – (Includes Reception and Monday Box Lunch)
$240.00 – Tuesday Only – (Includes Breakfast & Lunch)
Volunteer/Med Student:
$255.00 – Main Conference (Includes Reception on Sunday, Lunch on Monday, Breakfast &
Lunch on Tuesday)
$145.00 – Monday Only – (Includes Reception and Monday Box Lunch)
$180.00 – Tuesday Only – (Includes Breakfast & Lunch)

Continuing Education:
CE Instructions:
This conference will make available continuing education credits as listed below.
Certificates will be issued after the successful completion of sessions and evaluations are completed.
Certificates will be mailed to the address given on the evaluation form with credit hours documented.
Midwest Regional Conference on End of Life Care, a continuing education activity has been
submitted for approval to:
NURSES: MHPCA is currently seeking Nurse CE approval.
MEDICAL DIRECTORS: MHPCA is currently seeking CME approval.
SOCIAL WORKERS: MHPCA, #1359, is an approved provider for social work, continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) www.asbw.org, through the Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. MHPCA maintains responsibility for the program. ASWB Approval Period
02/28/2020 to 02/28/2023. Social workers should contact their regulatory board to determine course approval for continuing education credits. Social workers participating in this course will receive up to twelve (10) continuing education clock hours.
CHAPLAINS, VOLUNTEER COORDINATORS, DIETICIANS, PHYSICAL THERAPISTS AND OTHER DISCIPLINES: Upon completion of the conference attendance and evaluation form a Certificate of Successful Completion will be provided.
NURSING HOME ADMINISTRATORS: MHPCA is currently seeking CE approval.

Track Session Descriptions
Concurrent Session I-Monday, November 1st
1-A The Invisible Transitions Inside the Labyrinth of Caregiving – Debra Parker Oliver, MSW, PhD
This session will discuss the journey through terminal illness that is challenging for patients, however, their caregivers have a separate and equally difficult journey as well. The challenges of caregivers are not understood and not usually treated by clinicians.
1-B Goal – Concordant Care: Intersection Drugs and Disease – Wayne Grant, MD
In this session, learners should be able to identify the obstacles of goal-concordant care while also realizing the positive impact of listening to patients wishes. Participants will learn how goal-concordant care relates to advanced directives, consider deprescribing and apply patient cases to goal-concordant care.
1-C Rethinking Your Volunteer Program – Stephanie Marquart, Supervisor Volunteer Services
The pandemic happed – how do we recover and plan for the future? In this session participates will be able to l ) Review where volunteers programs failed and thrived; 2) Learn ways to recover from the pandemic and plan for the future; and 3) Motivate their volunteers to stay with their program.
1-D Potpourri of Potions Pertaining to Pharmacology – John Ponzillo, BS, PharmD
Pharmacologic management is evolving at an exponential pace. As our therapeutic options multiply, so does the potential for adverse drug reactions and drug interactions increase. This session will provide tools to anticipate and mitigate some of these potential therapeutic misadventures.
2-A Drug Shortage – Michelle Mikus – PharmD
This session will discuss the etiologies of pain, review the opioid and non-opioid pharmacotherapy options (including buprenorphine, lidocaine, and ketamine), and explore the interdisciplinary team member’s roles in pain management. Calculations, formulations, dosing methods, clinical pearls, and patient cases will be presented.
2-B Building Connections: Cultural Sensitivity – Nicole McCann-Davis, BD Television Production
This session will increase understanding of barriers/perspectives which contribute to the experience of various demographic groups, identify elements/approaches to supporting needs of a diverse patient population and increase understanding of collaboration.
2-C Improving EOL for the LGBTQ Population – Dr. Jason Gray, DNP
This session will focus on health risks among the LGBTQ population and provide communication strategies to improve the outcomes of our psycho-social interventions. Participants will know serious life limiting health considerations, risk factors to health care, and how to better communicate with LGBTQ patients.
2-D Pediatric Hospice (general discussion about support by SW, Chaplain, Expressive Therapist, Music Therapist, and Nursing in the format of case studies for pediatric patients )- Carousel Team Nancy Hammel, RN, BSN & Ashley Callahan, LMSW
This session will identify the unique needs of the pediatric hospice and palliative patient. Based on these unique needs we will discuss social work practices within this population and identify responsibilities of the hospice team. We will strategize ways to access support or education for yourself or your agency, in serving a family in this crisis.
Concurrent Session III-Tuesday, November 2nd
3-A The Concept of Deprescribing Medications – Myra Belgeri, PharmD
Deprescribing is the process of identifying medications in which the potential risks outweigh the potential benefits, and then discontinuing those medications. This session will discuss how to assess the appropriateness of medications, identify barriers to discontinuing medications, and develop a strategy for discontinuing medications during end of life care.
3-B Goal – Update on the Pepper Report – Kim Skehan Simone, RN, MSN, HCS-D, COS-C, Director, Compliance, Regulatory & Quality
This interactive session will review PEPPER for Hospice. We will provide an overview of PEPPER, including the target areas which are frequently the focus of government audits. We will discuss strategies for hospices to utilize to incorporate PEPPER report data into your Compliance and Quality Programs for to ensure optimal oversight and implementation of pro-active processes to address PEPPER findings and minimize risk.
3-C Audits, OIG, Lawsuits Update in Hospice – Jason Bring, JD
In this session we will review trends in government investigations and audits of hospices, including whistleblower cases and UPIC / ZPIC audits. The presentation will cover document requests from investigators, tips for reducing production burdens, e-mail retention, and appeal strategies.
3-D Mental Health Issues – Stacie Zellin, BS Community Health, Master of Public Health, CHES
This presentation will explain substance use disorder as a brain disease, highlight the changes in preferred language and terminology regarding substance use, and provide additional resources and information.
Concurrent Session IV-Tuesday, November 2nd
4-A Home Sweet Home – Succeeding in Community Based Palliative Care – Michelle Schultz, MD
The VNA Advanced Illness Management (AIM) Program is a community-based palliative care (CBPC) consultation and management service focusing on patients who have difficulty leaving home due to serious chronic illness. This session will provide practical information about how CBPC can be furnished successfully, providing practical tools and case studies.
4-B Survey Readiness and Plan of Correction – Jennifer Hale, MSN, RN, CHPN
Hospices are entering a new environment of survey activity based on the global pandemic which triggered the implementation of new processes, practices, and experiences for hospice providers and patients. In this interactive session, we will discuss the evolution of hospice oversight through surveys and how hospice providers can best assess their current readiness, train their teams to be survey ready, and respond proactively to survey deficiencies.
4-C Hospice Analytics – What You Need to Know in Missouri – Cordt Kassner, PhD
This session will review key hospice metrics at the Missouri provider, county, state, as well as at national levels, and discuss how these metrics are being applied in public policy and regulatory environments.
4-D Hospice Billing – Nykesha Scales, MBA & Cari Atkinson, Masters Healthcare Administration, CGS
Don’t miss your opportunity to connect with both billing and clinical subject matter experts from your Home Health
and Hospice Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC), CGS Administrators J15 HHH. This session will discuss how to document accurately and concisely the first time around. You’ll leave the session empowered with tools and resources to help you be successful with Medicare Hospice Billing.
Concurrent Session V-Tuesday, November 2nd
5-A Palliative Care Update – Patrick White, MD
This session will identify high mortality risk individuals using machine learning, describe how to reduce delirium
risk in high-risk individuals in the surgical setting, describe how long it takes methylphenidate to reduce cancer
fatigue symptoms and identify how effective CPR is in enhancing survival to hospital discharge in patients greater
than 80 years old.
5-B Recognizing Veteran Specific Care Needs at EOL- Angela Interiano, MSN
Identifying Veteran specific care needs goes beyond if a patient is a Veteran. This session will provide insight including differences during service/war time eras can impact a Veteran’s end of life process—and help navigate the complexity of symptom management during the last hours of life.
5-C Healthcare Brunout & Complicated Grief – It’s for Real – Christi Lero, MSW, LCSW, CSW-G
In this session participants will be able to define burnout and identify it in the clinical setting. They will learn the impact that burnout will cause to a patient and/or the patient’s family while also learning how to prevent and care for those experiencing burnout.
5-D Art, Music, and Pet Therapies – Jen Dykeman, MA, ATR, LPC & Alison Cole, MBA, MT-BC
This session will focus on how to have a greater understanding of the role of art therapy and music therapy in hospice. To understand the underlying principles of both disciplines, to provide specific examples of effective interventions shared through case studies and to demonstrate effective and evidence-based interventions used by music therapists and art therapists.