NPHI Hosts Discussion With Respecting Choices Focused on Advance Care Planning
Today, the National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI) hosted Stephanie Anderson, Executive Director, and Carole Montgomery, Director, Physician Development and Program Improvement of Respecting Choices to lead a discussion focused on the benefits and goals of advance care planning (ACP). Hospice and palliative care programs are experts at aligning individual patients’ goals, values, and beliefs through goals of care conversations at the end of life. Respecting Choices presented and demonstrated the potential benefits of moving those types of conversations further upstream to help patients and their families discern what matters most in advance of when decisions need to be made and preparing end-of-life care providers for their unique role in decision making discussions. This session also provided members with an opportunity to discuss other top of mind issues as they relate to ACP.
“An honest, thoughtful, and gracious approach to discussing ACP decisions is critical to ensuring that patients and their families feel comforted and supported in what are often some of the most challenging moments of their lives,” said Tom Koutsoumpas, CEO of NPHI. “NPHI member programs take this responsibility to heart and are community leaders in assisting patients and their families through these types of conversations. We are grateful to have Stephanie and Carole of Respecting Choices with us today to address our members on how they can develop even more robust, patient-centered models of handling ACP discussions.”
The conversation, entitled “NPHI Member Engagement Call: Respecting Choices”, was part of a biweekly series of NPHI-hosted discussions to address today’s pressing hospice topics through engagement with health policy experts, thought leaders, and other industry innovators.
The discussion was meant to present and educate NPHI’s membership on what patient-centered decision making ideally looks like and the steps programs ought to take to achieve it. Additionally, Stephanie and Carole offered real-world examples of the benefits of ACP conversations to patients, families, and healthcare organizations such as, avoidance of unwanted care, increased satisfaction with care, and reduced stress, anxiety, and depression for surviving loved ones and providers. Click here to learn more about this series or how to become an NPHI member.
About the National Partnership for Healthcare & Hospice Innovation
The National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI) is a collaborative of 70+ not-for-profit, community-integrated, advanced illness, and hospice providers from across the United States who play a unique role as a crucial safety net for the sickest, most vulnerable patients in the communities they serve. For more information, visit www.nphihealth.org
About Respecting Choices
Respecting Choices (RC) is an internationally recognized, evidence-based system for person-centered decision making that transforms the healthcare culture by honoring an individual’s goals and values. RC’s goal is to design a system of person-centered care that is guided by the best scientific evidence and is aligned with an individual’s goals and values. This system requires a shared decision-making process that involves respectful interaction among providers, individuals, and families, and keeps the focus of planning on what matters most to each and every person for any healthcare decision. Through a systematic approach in designing and implementing ACP processes, the goal of honoring an individual’s healthcare decisions can be achieved. For more information, visit https://respectingchoices.org/