"EXCEL" Meeting Minutes
March 20, 2002

Present:
Tim Thompson, M.D., Arnold Golodetz, M.D., Leslie Hammond, Alzheimers Association, Bea Grauss, Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems, Ginny Fry, Tasseli McKay, Stephanie Lane

Grants:
Tim reported that he spoke with a Purdue Pharma representative about the possibility of funding for ExCEL. They are very interested in fostering statewide education on pain management with narcotics. Several general concerns were raised regarding pursuing pharmaceutical company funding. These included controlling the content of educational programs (ie, focusing on narcotics for end-of-life care rather than back pain management) and including company logos on printed materials. It was agreed that these issues do not present a serious obstacle, provided that the terms under which funding is applied for and accepted are clearly articulated. There are two Purdue Pharma grants the group agreed to to pursue. The first is for sponsorship of a speaker at the June meeting. The second is sponsorship of a new educational initiative to train physicians in quality pain management. Purdue will consider a grant request of up to $50,000.

June Meeting:
Ginny passed out the draft brochure for review. Tim said that he liked the brochure and thought that Diana should leave the title of her talk as "How NOT to Lose Your Shirt in Hospice", instead of "Building Bridges to Success". Tim also mentioned that he would like to expand the mailing of the brochure to include hospital directors and CEO's.

Other Business
Arnold asked Bea Grauss if VAHHS could work with ExCEL to make it a requirement to attend palliative care workshops. Arnold said that he saw VAHHS as able to help by getting membership support and creating requirements for continuing education on end-of-life care. Bea said that the VAHHS would be happy to co-sponsor, with VMS, an education workshop or summit to reach CEO's and hospital directors. Tim responded that he would rather see workshops at each hospital location.

Tim told the group that he had spoken with Gill Fanciullo, M.D. of the Dartmouth Hitchcock Alliance about having the 17 hospitals included in the alliance contribute $5,000 each to ExCEL toward palliative care education. Dr. Fanciullo said he would think about it. Tim will follow up with a letter of intent.

Ginny asked Bea about putting questions about pain and cultural diversity on the surveys the hospitals send out. Committee members would also like to get copies of every hospital's mission statement, and information from each hospital's surveys regarding palliative care.

VPQHC Annual Report:
Ginny received a letter from VPQHC asking for a spotlight from ExCEL for their Annual Report. Tim suggested that we spotlight Caledonia, and Ginny suggested Brattleboro. The group agreed.

Tim will contact Joe Murray at VPQHC.

Upcoming Meetings:
April 18, 2002 at 6:00 P.M. - "Birthing, Breast Feeding and Dying in Diverse Cultures. To be held at Central Vermont Hospital.