COLUMBIA, Mo. – North Central Missouri Hospice Care Consultants Amanda Bentlage, Jennifer Beshears, Jeanne Butts and Rachel Forker were honored for outstanding performance and inducted into the 2019 Compassus Presidents’ Circle at the company’s National Medical Directors, Leadership and Presidents’ Circle Meeting last month.
Bentlage, Beshears, Butts and Forker were four of 67 inductees into this year’s Presidents’ Circle, reserved for hospice and home health care consultants who have consistently expanded access to home health, palliative and hospice care in their communities.
Beshears was also one of six Presidents’ Circle members to earn the Compassus Hospice Access Impact Award, a special recognition for remarkable achievement in helping an extraordinary number of patients and their families navigate onto the hospice benefit in each year of her tenure with the organization.
According to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission’s March 2016 Report to Congress: Medicare Payment Policy, less than half of Medicare beneficiary decedents enrolled in hospice care, and the median length of stay in hospice was only 17 days.
One of the main factors in underutilization of hospice is lack of knowledge. The role of the Compassus hospice care consultant is to educate patients and families in their communities about the hospice benefit, which has been shown to improve quality of life, reduce symptom stress, and minimize hospitalizations.
“Amanda, Jennifer, Jeanne and Rachel ever-faithfully demonstrate their dedication to helping patients gain access to the care they need, improving quality of life at a very vulnerable time for both patients and their loved ones,” said Karen Duncan, executive director of the Compassus – North Central Missouri program. “Their commitment is truly impactful, allowing us to demonstrate quality care in its best form, and an inspiration to their colleagues.”
For more information about Compassus – North Central Missouri, visit our Columbia landing page or call (573) 443-8360.
