HJAR Mar/Apr 2021

Q&A 22 MAR / APR 2021 I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS   How did hospice, as we know it, begin, and how has it evolved over the years? JUDY WOOTEN The term “hospice” can be traced back to medieval times when it referred to a place of rest for weary travel- ers on a long journey. It was first applied to end-of-life care by a London physician, Dame Cicely Saunders, who began her work with terminally ill patients in 1948 and intro- duced the concept in the United States in a lecture to medical students at Yale Univer- sity in 1963. From there, a volunteer hos- pice movement spread across the nation, which eventually culminated in the pas- sage by Congress of a preliminary Medicare Hospice Benefit in 1982 that was made per- manent in 1986. Since then, a hospice ben- efit has been added by most other payors, including Medicaid, the VA and most com- mercial insurance plans. In 2018, the most recent year available, 1.55 million Medicare beneficiaries were cared for by hospice. Are there misconceptions surrounding hospice? WOOTEN Most people think hospice is about death, but it’s not; it’s about life. The focus of hospice is to help patients and families dealing with a life-limiting illness achieve the highest quality of life possible for as long as life lasts. That includes mak- ing the patient as comfortable as possible through expert pain and symptommanage- ment and helping both the patient and fam- ily deal with the social, emotional and spiri- tual issues surrounding end of life. BRIAN BELL, MD From the perspective of the consumer or patient, the misconception is that we take away all their medications and just let them die. Nothing could be further from the truth. If anything, we add medica- tions to make them more comfortable and provide a team of specialists to address any issues they may have and quickly get them resolved. From the perspective of doctors and other healthcare providers, the miscon- ception is the extent of services we pro- vide for these families. We have a whole team that takes care of these families, and Judith S. Wooten, MHA, FACHE, joined the Arkansas Hospice team as vice president and chief operating officer in 2002. She was named president and chief executive officer in 2011. Her healthcare career began as a patient representative in a large, tertiary care, teaching hospital in 1980, where she “fell in love with healthcare.” Wooten earned a Master of Health Administration from Washington University School of Medicine in 1985. Since then, she has been a hospital administrator, a managed care executive and a management and healthcare consultant. Wooten is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) and a Certified Hospice Administrator. She is the current president of the Hospice and Palliative Care Association of Arkansas and serves on the board of directors of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. In recognition of her healthcare leadership and service, Wooten was named the 2020 recipient of the ACHE Regent’s Award for Senior Level Healthcare Executive. Brian Bell, MD, is the chief medical officer at Arkansas Hospice and is board certified both in Family Medicine and Hospice and Palliative Medicine (HPM). He is one of only a few Fellows in the Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine in the state. He has been working in hospice since 2006 and is currently on the faculty at UAMS, where he teaches all hospice and palliative medicine fellows. He serves on the Professional Education Committee of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO). He has given multiple lectures to UAMS case management over the last four years to better educate them on hospice and palliative care. He has served on the Arkansas Physicians Orders for Life Sustaining Treatments (POLST) Taskforce since 2017 and worked with the legislature and others in its passage. Previously, he was on faculty at two medical schools in South Carolina and started the first hospice and palliative medicine fellowship in that State in 2014. Judith S. Wooten, MHA, FACHE President & CEO Arkansas Hospice Brian Bell, MD Vice President & Chief Medical Officer Arkansas Hospice Barbara Ross, BS, CCLS, CT, is a certified child life specialist and certified in thanatology by the Association for Death Education and Counseling. She oversees grief support and education for Arkansas Hospice patients and families, including children, along with community bereavement support and self-care education and support for staff members. With previous experience at Ochsner Hospital in New Orleans, Arkansas Children’s Hospital and Hospice Home Care, Ross has worked at Arkansas Hospice since 2001. Barbara Ross, BS, CCLS, CT Director of Bereavement Arkansas Hospice Carly Claud, LCSW, began working for Arkansas Hospice in 2001 and has experience in both inpatient and home-based settings. She is a 2009 recipient of the Hospice Heart Award from the Hospice and Palliative Care Association of Arkansas. Carly Claud, LCSW Licensed Social Worker Arkansas Hospice