VITAS® Healthcare Hosts CME/CE Webinar With Florida Hospital Association on Advance Care Planning

MIRAMAR, Fla., April 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- VITAS Healthcare will host a joint educational webinar this week, presented in collaboration with the Florida Hospital Association, focused on strengthening advance care planning conversations across the state of Florida

The live virtual event, Real Conversations About Advance Care Planning: Voices from a Caregiver, Primary Care Physician and Frontline Healthcare Team, takes place Thursday, April 16, from 12:00 to 1:30 p.m. ET and offers 1.5 CME/CE credits for eligible participants.

Advance care planning is essential to aligning medical care with a patient's wishes, values and preferences, yet advance directives remain underused and inconsistently documented across Florida. This multidisciplinary webinar will explore how clinicians can integrate these conversations into routine care, improve documentation practices and ensure patient preferences are accessible across outpatient, inpatient, emergency and hospice settings.

"Clinicians are often asked to make high-stakes decisions without a clear understanding of what matters most to the patient," said Joseph Shega, MD, chief medical officer at VITAS, who will moderate the session. "We can help close that gap by making these conversations part of everyday practice and documenting preferences in a way that follows the patient. This webinar offers practical, Florida-specific approaches clinicians can use right away."

"Advance care planning is foundational to quality, ethical healthcare, yet too often these conversations happen too late or not at all," said Mary C. Mayhew, president of the Florida Hospital Association. "By bringing together clinicians, caregivers and healthcare leaders from across Florida, this webinar helps move advance care planning from a form to a meaningful conversation that honors patient wishes and supports families when it matters most."

The webinar will feature perspectives from a caregiver, Florida-based physicians, a health system, an advance care planning platform and a foundation, for a discussion grounded in real-world clinical scenarios related to advance directives and surrogate decision-making.

The program is open to physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, case managers, social workers, hospital administrators, hospice clinicians and other healthcare professionals practicing in Florida.

Register for this and other upcoming webinars at VITAS.com/Webinars.

About VITAS® Healthcare
VITAS Healthcare is the nation's leading provider of end-of-life care. For almost 50 years, VITAS (pronounced VEE-tahs) has delivered compassionate hospice and palliative care to seriously ill patients and their families. Headquartered in Miramar, Florida, the company operates 59 service areas across 15 states (Alabama, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin) and the District of Columbia. 

VITAS cares for more than 22,000 patients daily, primarily wherever they call home, as well as in its inpatient hospice settings and through partnerships with hospitals, nursing homes and assisted living communities. With a team of nearly 12,000 employees, VITAS was named a 2025 Top Workplace in Healthcare. Visit www.vitas.com.

About FHA
Founded in 1927, the Florida Hospital Association (FHA) is the leading voice for health care in the State of Florida. Through representation and advocacy, education and informational services, the Florida Hospital Association supports the mission of over 260 hospitals and health care systems to provide the highest quality of care to the patients we serve. Led by President and CEO Mary Mayhew, the Florida Hospital Association is located in Tallahassee and is governed by a Board of Trustees and officers elected by the member institutions. To learn more, visit www.fha.org.

Media inquiries contact: [email protected], 877-848-2701 

SOURCE VITAS Healthcare