The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) and the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) have announced the completion of their affiliation agreement.
The affiliation joins two of the largest organizations representing, educating and advocating for home health and hospice providers that serve millions of disabled, elderly and dying Americans across the country. Board chairs and c-suite executives at NAHC and NHPCO recently met in Washington D.C. to ink the deal.
The affiliation is rooted in a shared belief that unification will benefit their respective members and ultimately the patients and families they serve, according to NAHC President and CEO William Dombi.
“The affiliation of NAHC and NHPCO is a historic event,” Dombi said in a joint statement from the organizations. “Unifying the voice of health care at home has been a longstanding goal of NAHC, as it is the essence of the original formation of NAHC in 1982. Combining our two organizations will significantly strengthen that voice for the benefit of our members and the patients they serve.”
NAHC and NHPCO have developed a collaborative working relationship during the last 90 years of their combined existence. Historically, the organizations collaborated on a “largely ad hoc basis” on policy and advocacy efforts in the home health and hospice space, executives previously told Hospice News at the time of the announcement.
Recent advocacy efforts have included a shared focus of improving program integrity within the Medicare Hospice Benefit as concerns of fraudulent activity heat up in the industry.
The affiliation marks a significant milestone for the two organizations and providers in the home health and hospice industries, according to NHPCO Interim CEO Ben Marcantonio.
“The community of providers delivering care primarily in people’s homes is stronger when we work together,” Marcantonio said in the announcement. “We have demonstrated that strength in recent years with shared advocacy efforts and joint research that have helped change the conversation in Washington and beyond. Aligning NHPCO and NAHC into one new organization will mean we can better serve our members well into the future.”
The decision-making process began last year when NAHC and NHPCO announced the affiliation in March. Since then, the two organizations have taken several steps forward including the development of a steering committee to help guide the affiliation process with members of both NAHC and NHPCO, as well as support from the consulting firm McKinley Advisors.
“The NAHC-NHPCO Alliance will be the leading authority and unifying voice of the care at home community,” said Kenneth Albert, NAHC board chair and chair-elect of the NAHC-NHPCO Alliance. “The leadership of both organizations have worked for 18 months to make this happen and the talented staff at NAHC and NHPCO are already hard at work integrating the two organizations. Together, we will make home the center of health care.”
The affiliation initiates a new phase in the ongoing process to join the organizations.
Beginning July 1, NAHC and NHPCO will move forward with an operational integration process, anticipated to complete by the end of this year. This will involve naming the combined organization, including trademark approval processing. The integration process will also include a “robust search” for a CEO, a process already underway, according to the organizations.
Joining forces can allow for greater advocacy efforts among a wider base of providers and improved efforts of evidence-based support for the patients and families receiving their care, said Melinda Gruber, board chair at NHPCO and vice chair-elect of the newly formed alliance.
“This alliance between NHPCO and NAHC will create the most powerful voice the care at home community has ever had,” Gruber said. “For members, it means access to the best education and expert advice, as well as a strong advocate for sensible policies that help providers deliver the best possible care to the millions of Americans who need it the most.”
Companies featured in this article:
National Association for Home Care & Hospice, National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization