FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 1, 2023                                                                                    
Contact: atucci@hospicefoundation.org
 

 

Ask an Expert, Hospice Foundation of America’s (HFA’s) free education and information service for the public and clinicians, will be sponsored by OnePoint Patient Care in November in recognition of National Hospice and Palliative Care Month, HFA announced today.

“We’re grateful for OnePoint’s continued support of hospice care excellence and awareness in the United States. By underwriting Ask an Expert, OnePoint is demonstrating its commitment to hospice patients, families, and clinicians,” said Amy Tucci, HFA president.

OnePoint is a leading provider of community-based hospice pharmacy and pharmacy benefits management (PBM) services, offering hospices nationwide flexible and adaptable solutions for their hospice pharmacy needs. OnePoint fills prescriptions, creates custom compounds and formularies, provides home deliveries, and manages pharmacy benefits for more than 44,000 individual or group homes. Through its Concierge PBM, Next Day Valet mail order, and Direct Express local services, OnePoint serves hospice programs in all 50 states.

Questions submitted to Ask an Expert are answered confidentially by a team of experts knowledgeable about topics related to coping with the end of life, including caregiving, hospice care, and bereavement care. Led by experienced nurse practitioner Angela Novas, MSN, RN, CRNP, and internationally renowned grief expert Kenneth J. Doka, PhD, MDiv, the team typically responds to questions in less than 24 hours. Questions are submitted via a confidential email platform and by phone.

Unlike similar services, Ask an Expert does not receive commissions, charge users, or recommend specific hospice providers, but instead offers unbiased information and tools to help patients, caregivers, and health and social service providers understand hospice care, other aspects of end-of-life care, or access grief support for themselves and loved ones.

“We receive hundreds of inquiries about hospice care that we respond to each month. While hospice providers care for nearly half of everyone who dies in the U.S. today, there are still many people, including healthcare professionals, who don’t know how or when hospice can help. We are here to fill that gap of knowledge,” said Novas.

“OnePoint is proud to support HFA and their Ask an Expert service. We have always recognized the profound value that comes from having access to an experienced hospice clinician, and it’s why we provide expert on-call clinical consulting services to our pharmacy and PBM partners, 24/7,” said OnePoint Patient Care Marketing Director Charlie Otterbeck.

Both OnePoint and HFA are longstanding champions of hospice care. OnePoint was one of the first pharmacies to begin serving the hospice industry when the Medicare hospice benefit began in the 1980s. Today OnePoint has grown to be a leading national hospice pharmacy with pharmacy locations strategically located throughout the United States.

Hospice Foundation of America originated in 1982 when its founders helped to craft the Medicare hospice benefit. Over the last 40 years, it has expanded to offer professional and public education about hospice care and grief, provide funding for specific hospice and grief initiatives, and contribute to important work and research around advance care planning, end-of-life care, and bereavement.