Hospice of the Western Reserve, Hospice of Dayton partner to provide quality care for all Ohioans

Ohio's two largest hospice care providers - Hospice of the Western Reserve and Hospice of Dayton - have announced a collaborative initiative to ensure delivery of the highest quality of care for all Ohioans. The partnership will focus on creating best practice standards for hospice and palliative care, proactively sharing quality data, benchmarking performance to continuously improve care delivery and creating the most skilled workforce. All of the initiatives and their outcomes will be supported by fact-based research.

"Phase one of the partnership will emphasize the sharing of best practices, integration of evidence-based care, standardization of education, enhancement of community advocacy activities and the promotion of world-class hospice care across Ohio," explained Hospice of Dayton President/CEO Kent Anderson.

"New programs for disease management and high-risk care management will also be initiated in partnership with health systems and managed care providers. Future initiatives will focus on refining operating efficiencies, sharing electronic medical records with our partners in care, and elevating the presence of best-practice hospice care."

As not-for-profit, mission-driven, community organizations, Hospice of the Western Reserve and Hospice of Dayton are among the nation's legacy providers with decades of experience and service to the Northeastern, Southwestern and Central communities of Ohio. The two hospice organizations combined provide care to more than 12,000 Ohioans annually.

The new partnership will advance the shared goals of:

• Providing ideal patient care for every person needing hospice services regardless of ability to pay
• Providing hospitality, respect and caring for each patient and family member
• Preserving and enhancing patient dignity
• Attending to the social, physical and spiritual needs of each person served
• Reducing unnecessary suffering in the communities
• Celebrating the life of each individual

William E. Finn, Chief Executive Officer, Hospice of the Western Reserve, said the long-term goal of the hospice collaboration is to enhance care, services and mission while cooperating in the following areas:

• Quality of care and services backed by evidenced-based best clinical practices and demonstrating unsurpassed quality of care in the communities they serve
• Creating a network of hospice and palliative care providers across Ohio with shared commitment to quality, service and access and development of pre-hospice palliative care management
• Research and innovation through collaboration with community medical schools and institutions to improve end-of-life care
• Community advocacy for local economies through the creation of jobs and use of community businesses for purchased supportive services
• Improved stewardship and efficiency through collective purchasing and shared technology, enabling the reinvestment of savings into staffing and care delivery