Five Wisconsin Hospices Form Collaborative to Drive Quality and Access

MADISON, Wis., March 1, 2021 (Newswire.com) - Wisconsin's five leading nonprofit hospice and palliative care organizations have joined together to form the Wisconsin Hospice & Palliative Care Collaborative (WHPCC)—a strategic partnership focused on enhancing access to quality care for chronically and seriously ill patients in an era marked by rapidly changing reimbursement structures.

WHPCC has formally incorporated as a 501c3 organization, comprised of Agrace, Rainbow Hospice Care, Unity Hospice, Hospice Alliance and Sharon S. Richardson Community Hospice. Together, these hospices serve a geography where nearly 80 percent of Wisconsin's 5.8 million people live.

In many ways, launching WHPCC formalizes the collaborative work these innovative community hospices have been engaged in since 2006. Over the past decade, their strategic partnership has enabled them to standardize best practices including, but not limited to, eligibility and relatedness determinations, documentation, quality benchmarking, diversity and inclusion, staff education and volunteer management. During this period of time, member organizations also expanded their services beyond hospice care to include Supportive Care Management, a specialized program of care designed for people who are living with advancing serious illness. Collectively, all of these innovations have improved the quality of hospice and palliative care throughout the state of Wisconsin while delivering cost savings to the market.

With the advent of Accountable Care Organizations, the rapid rise of Medicare Advantage, as well as emerging private sector risk-sharing models, WHPCC was incorporated as a nonprofit provider network to partner directly with payers under a single contract. WHPCC's vast geographic footprint enables payers to efficiently contract for home-based, supportive services for plan members facing chronic and serious illness.

WHPCC members continue their long tradition as independent organizations. Their focus will be to leverage decades of expertise in community-based care in order to meet the changing needs of seniors. With the extra layer of support that the collaborative provides to seniors, they can often age in place at a lower cost. WHPCC members are the experts in delivering care in this environment.

"We are delighted to take this next step in the evolution of our work and become an even more vital part of Wisconsin's health care infrastructure by providing supportive services to those with chronic and serious illness in a community-based setting," said Lynne Sexten, President and CEO of Agrace in Madison, and immediate past chair of the WHPCC Board. "Our nonprofit roots enable us to remain committed, first and foremost, to the communities we serve. We are not beholden to shareholders or private equity owners. We intend to channel our collective expertise and resources to improve the lives of seniors by better enabling them to remain in their homes. Together, we will make Wisconsin the model for the post-acute care continuum."

The Wisconsin Hospice and Palliative Care Collaborative is a partnership of the state's five leading nonprofit hospice and palliative care organizations: Agrace, Hospice Alliance, Rainbow Hospice Care, Sharon S. Richardson Community Hospice and Unity Hospice. More information is available at whpcc.org

Source: Wisconsin Hospice & Palliative Care Collaborative (WHPCC)