Betsy Murphy
For 25 years Betsy Murphy has served patients and their families receiving hospice care. She worked in a large metropolitan area hospice serving in both administrative and direct patient care roles. The number of hospice patients rapidly grew during her tenure as regional vice president with the relationships she developed. For seven years, Betsy worked in marketing and business relations, focusing on increasing access to hospice care for underserved populations.

Betsy’s teachings are widely published in nursing journals. In 2006, she contributed the first chapter “End of Life Care” in FA Davis and Company’s textbook Understanding Medical Surgical Nursing. She was prompted to write her own book when she recognized that families wanted to understand at what point recovery was unlikely so that they could better advocate for a loved one. Betsy is a featured expert on end of life issues for Allexperts.com and Ezinearticles.com.

Betsy speaks both locally and nationally on end of life issues. She presented “In Search of a Peaceful Death” at the American College of Nurse Practitioner conference in Albuquerque in October 2009.

Betsy provides consultation and support for hospices in two important areas, marketing and clinical staff documentation. She has received praise for her marketing training which provides clinical and nonclinical outreach staff with the latest research on how to identify eligible patients and to communicate eligibility to referral sources. She provides the expertise necessary to effectively navigate the culture of extended care facilities, promote collaboration and enhance referrals. She evaluates their clinical documentation for patient eligibility and helps them to develop an effective program to improve their documentation to assure compliance and Medicare payments.

A resident of Middleburg, Virginia, Betsy was recognized in 1997 and 2003 as an Outstanding Woman of Loudoun County by the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors. In 1993, she was honored as an Outstanding Woman in Medicine also by the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors.

Links to Articles:


In Search of a Peaceful Death
http://www.clinicianreviews.com/index.asp?page=8_13523.xml
Planning for Future Health Care Decisions: What You Should Know
http://www.alz-nca.org/caretips/ADV-DIR.php
Not Ready for Hospice
http://nursing.advanceweb.com/article/not-ready-for-hospice-1.aspx