AGS Joins 65 Other Organizations Supporting Voluntary Advance Care Planning Services
The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) joined 65 other organizations this month to endorse a letter asking Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Matthews Burwell to recognize and make separate payment for voluntary advance care planning (ACP) services under Medicare.
The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) joined 65 other organizations this month to endorse a letter asking Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Matthews Burwell to recognize and make separate payment for voluntary advance care planning (ACP) services under Medicare.
“The diversity and caliber of organizations that have joined us in voicing support for ACP speaks to the importance of these services for patients who want—and deserve—to have a say in their health and care,” said AGS Chief Executive Officer Nancy E. Lundebjerg, MPA. “Making separate payment for ACP will not only promote these services for those who can benefit from them most, but also will allow us to track how they are being furnished and used to build a better, more effective, and more responsive healthcare system.”
ACP–a comprehensive, ongoing, patient-centered approach to communication about future healthcare choices–has become a standard of care, with consensus on its value mounting from diverse corners of the healthcare landscape. ACP leads to better care, higher patient and family satisfaction, fewer unwanted hospitalizations, and lower rates of caregiver distress, depression, and lost productivity, according to recent studies. The 2004 IOM report, “Dying in America,” also cited payment for ACP as one five key recommendations for improving care quality and honoring individual wishes and expectations.
AGS and other stakeholders are hopeful that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will include the new ACP codes in its 2016 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Rule, which is used to determine payment for physicians and other eligible providers under Medicare.
To read the full press release from AGS, click here. For a PDF of the letter, click here.
