Featured Plenary Sessions

Thursday, March 14 from 8:15–10 am

Shantanu Agrawal

President and CEO of the National Quality Forum (NQF). A board-certified emergency medicine physician who has worked in both academic and community settings, Dr. Agrawal is the former deputy administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and director of one of its largest centers, the Center for Program Integrity (CPI).

Friday, March 15 from 8:15–10 am

Defining Hope: What Makes Life Worth Living?

In this session, filmmaker and ethnographer Carolyn Jones an outsider-looking-in perspective, describing her journey into the world of healthcare as a journalist, a patient, and a family member. Having collected countless stories for her book and documentary film projects, Jones exposes some of the public's biggest misconceptions about hospice and palliative care, and examines what it's like to be on the receiving end of that care. Jones will share clips from Defining Hope, her latest film, which follows patients with life-threatening illness as they make choices about how they want to live, how much medical technology they can accept, what they hope for and how that hope evolves when life is threatened. It is about optimism and reminds us that we have choices in how we die. Her goal is to jumpstart critical conversations and help people define what truly makes life worth living

Watch Her TED Talk

Saturday, March 16 from 8:15–10 am

The State of the Science: Update in Hospice and Palliative Care

The State of the Science returns on Saturday morning celebrating its 15th Anniversary! Laura Gelfman and Heather Coates take the stage to celebrate this Annual Assembly staple and discuss the future of research education. with the latest research in hospice and palliative care presented in a fun and engaging format.