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/.
Stephanie Skaggs, product lead for Medalogix, has been named a 2024 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.
Skaggs recently shared details about her career trajectory with Hospice News about the ways the industry, and related public policy, is evolving.
What drew you to this industry?
The end of life is a sacred transition, exemplified by animals like elephants and dolphins that show deep empathy and care for their ailing companions. These natural displays of compassion underscore the universal significance of this stage.
This profound reverence for life’s final moments inspired me to join the hospice industry, where I have the gift of aligning my work with the mission of agencies to facilitate this journey with dignity and compassion, thereby giving my own life deeper meaning.
What’s your biggest lesson learned since starting to work in this industry?
The hospice industry inspired me to embrace the essence of its pillars into my own lifestyle by prioritizing relationships, increasing quality time, pursuing meaning and adding little comforts along the way. I am now very intentional about building a full and purposeful life. The goals of hospice can enrich all stages of our lives, not only the end.
If you could change one thing with an eye toward the future of hospice, what would it be?
If I could change one thing, I’d quiet the noise of the diverse pressures agencies face. My colleagues and I aspire to contribute to developing technology that is so effective that it neutralizes the overwhelming challenges looming over agencies: such as financial constraints, staffing challenges, regulatory compliance and administrative burdens.
By harnessing such transformative technology, agencies and their clinicians would gain the freedom to continuously, radically reimagine what ideal patient care looks like and have the capacity to execute on that evolving vision.
What do you foresee as being different about the hospice industry looking ahead to 2025?
I expect to see greater interoperability between different health care systems and software platforms: streamlining workflows and ensuring that all relevant information is accessible in real-time.
I anticipate that the hospice industry will continue to see significant advancements in technology adoption, including more sophisticated and creative applications of data analytics and AI-driven insights, supporting clinicians in making more informed decisions and personalizing care plans.
There will likely be an increased focus on integrating telehealth solutions and remote monitoring, providing flexible and comprehensive care options for patients and their families.
5. In a word, how would you describe the future of hospice?
Pivotal. Modern hospice care has only been around for 57 years and because it’s such a young concept, there is so much untapped potential.
I’m optimistic that hospice care will be reinvented into an experience beyond our current comprehension, much like how today’s technologies have surpassed our past imaginations. With the right technological applications, I believe we stand on the brink of revolutionary change.
6. If you could give advice to yourself looking back to your first day in the industry, what would it be and why?
“The best way to predict the future is to create it.” — Elon Musk
To learn more about the Future Leaders program, visit https://futureleaders.agingmedia.com/.
