2026 Washington Leadership Conference brings together nonprofit providers, federal healthcare leaders and national partners to advance quality, integrity, innovation and access to care.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI), the national voice for nonprofit hospice and advanced illness care, brought together members, partners, sponsors and national healthcare leaders from across the country for its 2026 Washington Leadership Conference, held September 30–October 2 in the nation’s capital. The three-day gathering focused on strengthening the quality and integrity of hospice care, advancing innovation and addressing the challenges facing patients, families and providers in a rapidly changing healthcare landscape.
The conference featured direct conversations with senior officials from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS OIG), congressional staff and national healthcare leaders. Discussions covered Medicare policy, program integrity, quality improvement, caregiving, artificial intelligence and new opportunities to expand access to serious illness care.
“Our conferences are about strengthening our members so they can innovate, build on what they do best and apply that expertise across the entire continuum of care,” said Tom Koutsoumpas, Founder and CEO of NPHI. “Nonprofit hospice providers bring decades of experience caring for people with serious illness, supporting families and delivering high-quality, person-centered care. We want to equip our members with the relationships, knowledge and tools to bring that expertise further upstream, reach more people and help shape a healthcare system that better serves patients and families at every stage of serious illness.”
Direct Engagement with Federal Healthcare Leaders
A defining feature of this year’s conference was the opportunity for NPHI members to engage directly with federal officials responsible for Medicare policy, oversight and program integrity.
Jake Quinton, MD, Chief Medical Officer at CMS, delivered the opening keynote, discussing the future of serious illness care and opportunities to strengthen care delivery. NPHI also welcomed Brian Slater and Kelly Vontran, leaders of CMS’s Division of Home Health and Hospice, for a discussion of the FY 2027 Hospice Final Rule and its implications for providers and beneficiaries.
Jeneen Iwugo, Director of the Center for Program Integrity at CMS, joined for a fireside chat focused on hospice program integrity and efforts to combat fraud, waste and abuse. Senior counsel from HHS OIG also addressed updated compliance guidance, giving members insight into strengthening organizational compliance and accountability.
Advancing Quality, Innovation and the Future of Care
Quality remained a central theme throughout the conference. Cameron Muir, MD, NPHI’s Chief Medical & Innovation Officer, highlighted two new resources developed through NPHI’s Continuous Quality Improvement Initiative addressing gaps in nursing visits and hospice visits in the last days of life. The resources provide practical guidance to help organizations strengthen performance and improve care for patients and families.
The conference also explored broader forces reshaping healthcare. Rita B. Choula of the AARP Public Policy Institute and Jason Resendez, President and CEO of the National Alliance for Caregiving, examined the growing demands on America’s more than 63 million family caregivers and opportunities for providers to better support them.
Steven Kelts, AI Ethicist at Centene, led a discussion on the growing role of artificial intelligence in healthcare, including the opportunities it presents for providers and the importance of approaching its use responsibly and ethically. The conversation challenged members to think about how emerging technologies can support their work while preserving the human connection and person-centered approach to care.
The conference also looked at opportunities to extend the expertise of nonprofit hospice providers across the broader continuum of care. Clive Fields, MD, Chair of the HHS Healthcare Advisory Committee, and Kyu Rhee, MD, President and CEO of the National Association of Community Health Centers and a member of the HHS Healthcare Advisory Committee, joined Koutsoumpas for a forward-looking conversation on stronger collaboration between hospice providers and Federally Qualified Health Centers and opportunities to expand access to serious illness and end-of-life care.
“The future of hospice cannot be viewed in isolation from the rest of healthcare,” said Carole Fisher, President of NPHI. “We have tremendous opportunities to reach patients and families sooner, better support caregivers and build stronger connections across the healthcare system. Our members are helping lead that work, and gatherings like this allow us to turn shared challenges into meaningful opportunities for progress.”
More Than 70 Congressional Meetings on Capitol Hill
The conference opened Wednesday, September 30, with NPHI’s Capitol Hill Advocacy Day, during which members participated in more than 70 meetings with congressional offices, bringing the voices of nonprofit hospice providers directly to lawmakers and their staff.
Members shared firsthand experiences from their communities and advocated for policies that protect access to high-quality care, strengthen the integrity of the Medicare hospice benefit and support the long-term sustainability of nonprofit, community-based providers. The record level of congressional engagement underscored NPHI members’ commitment to ensuring the needs of patients and families remain central to federal healthcare policy discussions.
Looking Ahead
NPHI looks forward to building on the policy and innovation priorities discussed at the conference in the months ahead, including continued engagement with federal policymakers and collaboration across its national network.
The organization’s next major national gathering will be the 2027 Summit, Built to Innovate, April 19–22 at the JW Marriott Austin in Austin, Texas, bringing together more than 500 leaders, innovators and partners from across hospice and advanced illness care.
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