By Vanessa Orr
When a person is nearing the end of his or her life, hospice care can be a blessing. But many families may not understand exactly how it works and the many ways that their loved ones can benefit. Surprisingly, the same is true of healthcare professionals that may not be familiar with how hospice can make a significant difference in the lives and care of their patients.
Erika Gaudio, executive vice president of sales and marketing, VITAS® Healthcare, has made it her mission to share this information. As the leader of VITAS’ national business development, marketing, communications, and sales and admissions training teams, she is focused on expanding access to care, strengthening healthcare partnerships, developing VITAS’ people, and finding new ways to make it easier for patients and families to receive the support they deserve.
“One of the most important lessons I’ve learned throughout my career is that if you want to build meaningful relationships with healthcare professionals, you have to bring something of value that ultimately helps them care for their patients,” explains Gaudio, who has been with VITAS for 17 years. “That means credible, evidence-based education, peer-reviewed research, case studies, clinical data, and an understanding of how a patient’s disease progression relates to the services we provide.”
She notes that in hospice, VITAS consistently sees three areas where healthcare professionals need greater support: recognizing when a patient may be eligible for hospice, knowing how to initiate a goals-of-care conversation, and understanding the true value that hospice can bring to patients and families.
To this end, VITAS meets healthcare professionals where they are, whether through peer-to-peer accredited continuing education, disease-specific training, practical eligibility guidance using tools like the interactive Palliative Performance Scale in the VITAS Healthcare mobile app, or ongoing care coordination and communication about patients they’ve referred to VITAS.
The company’s sepsis initiative is a prime example. Recognizing that patients with advanced sepsis or post-sepsis complications who could potentially benefit from hospice weren’t always being identified, VITAS learned that uncertainty around eligibility and prognosis was a significant barrier.
“We responded by developing a dedicated sepsis education program to help clinicians recognize these patients and better understand their care options,” said Gaudio. “We applied a similar approach when developing our Goals-of-Care Preceptorship.”
Because physicians, mid-levels and other healthcare professionals may not have six or seven hours to dedicate to traditional continuing education, VITAS structured the program into manageable 30-minute modules covering prognostication, hospice eligibility, the value of hospice, and how to navigate difficult conversations.
“Interactive case studies and role-playing give physicians opportunities to practice these skills, build confidence, and earn continuing education credit without stepping away from patient care for an entire day,” said Gaudio.
VITAS recently became the first nationwide hospice provider to achieve the American Heart Association’s Palliative/Hospice Heart Failure Certification across its entire service footprint, spanning 15 states and the District of Columbia.
“What makes this certification particularly meaningful is the opportunity to change how healthcare professionals think about hospice for patients with advanced cardiac disease,” said Gaudio. “Heart failure remains underrepresented in hospice, despite patients often experiencing a symptom burden comparable to those with advanced cancer. We wanted to help close that gap by ensuring our teams have the specialized training and clinical resources to extend the high-quality cardiac care patients receive in hospitals into their homes.”
The certification recognizes VITAS’ adherence to the American Heart Association’s evidence-based standards for advanced heart failure care, including disease-specific symptom management, care coordination, patient and caregiver education, and ongoing clinical support. An open formulary allows patients to continue appropriate guideline-directed cardiac medications and therapies when clinically indicated, while specially trained teams support complex cardiac needs and symptoms such as breathlessness, edema, fatigue, and pain.
VITAS is already seeing encouraging progress in expanding access to hospice for patients with advanced cardiac disease. Its healthcare professionals have cared for more than 23,700 unique patients with cardiac disease (year to date through Oct. 2026), a nearly 10 percent increase over the same period last year.
“To me, that represents more patients and families benefiting from specialized care, symptom management, and support during a particularly vulnerable stage of illness,” said Gaudio. “Ultimately, this certification is about building trust, improving continuity of care, and helping more patients with advanced heart disease benefit from hospice when it’s appropriate.”
Gaudio, whose mother is a nurse, and whose stepfather was a pulmonologist and intensivist, grew up surrounded by conversations about medicine, patient care, and the challenges healthcare professionals face. But she says it wasn’t until she joined VITAS that she truly understood the full benefits of hospice care.
“That was eye-opening for me. If people who had spent their careers in healthcare didn’t fully appreciate everything hospice could offer, imagine how difficult it must be for patients and families who are navigating serious illness for the first time,” she said.
“The goal isn’t to persuade someone to choose hospice care. It’s to ensure they understand their options, have an opportunity to express their wishes, and can make informed decisions about the care they want to receive.”
To learn more, visit VITAS.com, call (800) 93-VITAS, or download the VITAS Healthcare mobile app.
