The Future Leaders Awards program is brought to you in partnership with Homecare Homebase. The program is designed to recognize up-and-coming industry members who are shaping the next decade of home health, hospice care, senior housing, skilled nursing, and behavioral health. To see this year’s Future Leaders, visit https://futureleaders.agingmedia.com/.
Jessica McGlory, founder and CEO of the California-based hospice provider Guaranteed, has been named a 2023 Future Leader by Hospice News.
To become a Future Leader, an individual is nominated by their peers. The candidate must be a high-performing employee who is 40-years-old or younger, a passionate worker who knows how to put vision into action, and an advocate for seniors and the committed professionals who ensure their well-being.
McGlory sat down with Hospice News to talk about her career trajectory and the ways the industry is evolving.
What drew you to the hospice field?
When I think about what drew me to this industry, I think about the time when I knew absolutely nothing about it. I used to have this sort of blissful ignorance of this industry; I didn’t even know it existed.
When I first learned about it, due to my dad having to go into hospice care, I asked why this had to happen and why it had to occur now. And I really kind of felt that in my entire spirit for a couple of years.
Now, having worked on this startup over the last year and a half, I started to realize just how much I am so incredibly glad that I got called to this industry, that I get to be a part of an industry that is dedicated to making sure that people have an end-of-life experience that truly can resonate with the life that they had.
I get to be part of an industry that can bring them comfort, where we can ease their pain. Those are the different things that make me feel so glad I got compelled to join this industry, even though it did come from a tragedy that drew me in. My perspective on it has really been able to evolve.
What is the biggest lesson you’ve learned since you started to work in this field?
The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that there may be fewer technological advancements in hospice compared to some other parts of health care. But there are a lot of dedicated people figuring it out and getting it done. A lot of people are making sure that folks are able to get an incredible hospice experience. That, to me, has been very inspiring.
I feel like I’ve learned a lot. I’ve seen the nuances, the different approaches that exist when you have different family dynamics and different types of team members. All those things that come into play and come together.
I definitely have been quite surprised by just how innovative people have become within an industry that definitely could use a bit more push on the technological side but is still finding ways to get these things done.
If you could change one thing with an eye toward the future of hospice care, what would it be?
I would introduce more tech enablement. I think that the modern patient, the modern family member, even the modern partner and staff member, everyone is looking for an approach where technology can end up being incredibly helpful.
I would love to see hospice really go toward becoming a tech-enabled sort of service. I also would really love to be able to see how AI can help different roles become even more effective and truly help remove some of the burden that falls on the caregiver and the care team’s shoulders. Tech could really help empower the next generation of hospice care and end-of-life health care.
What do you foresee being different about hospice space as you look ahead to 2024?
I believe the hospice industry is going to have more value-based care opportunities. So we’re going to be seeing a lot more along the lines of what value-based care actually means for the hospice industry.
Whether that’s manifesting in [the value-based insurance design model (VBID)] or if it’s coming through for more [Accountable Care Organization (ACO)] partnerships, we’re just going to see a lot more of what happens when you have to put in value-based systems versus the traditional form of hospice.
I also think that we’re going to be able to see a lot more hospices feel the squeeze of the competition, feel even more of the realities that are coming through with increases in prices and all of these different things that are coming down the pipeline.
But, with those different areas coming through, I like to look at them as tailwinds. I actually think that they’re pretty big opportunities to be able to say, “Okay, we can help define what hospice in value-based care is going to look like.”
We can help define what it truly means to be able to build out a supportive and incredible environment where people want to work, even when you aren’t able to be as competitive with price. So I think a lot of these things that are considered challenges are also pretty big opportunities.
In a word, looking beyond 2024, how would you describe the future of hospice care?
Innovative.
What quality must all Future Leaders possess?
Every future leader is going to need to be flexible.
They are truly going to have to be able to move within what is actually necessary for what people expect and for what people don’t even know to expect. They’re going to have to be able to consistently move around the very rapid change that is happening.
If they can’t be flexible, they will struggle with some of the changes that are starting to happen just across health care, let alone what’s starting to happen in end-of-life health care.
To learn more about the Future Leaders program, visit https://futureleaders.agingmedia.com/.