Advance Care Planning Conversations

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What You’ll Learn

  1. Elicit permission to begin conversations about advance care planning with the patient and their family
  2. Define the goals of advance care planning conversations for the patient
  3. Position advance care planning in the future, and distinguish it from present decision-making
  4. Recognize that advance care planning conversations inform your understanding of the patient’s values and allow you to explore the future with the patient in a non-threatening way

What You’ll Earn

Only CAPC members who are logged in can earn the following free Continuing Education Credits:

  • Case Management: 1.00 CE
  • Medicine: 0.50 CME, 0.50 ABIM MOC (Medical Knowledge Only)
  • Nursing: 1.00 CNE
  • Social Work: 1.00 CE (NYSED)
  • Social Work: 1.00 CE (NASW)

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Not sure if your organization is a CAPC member? Check here. If your organization is a member, you can create a free account to take this course and earn CE credits.

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Tools & Resources

Advance Care Planning Conversations: Key Takeaways
MEMBERS ONLY locked
Last Updated:

Stepwise approach to discussing advance care planning with patients or surrogates. Center to Advance Palliative Care and VitalTalk, 2015.

Billing and Coding for Advance Care Planning (ACP) Services
MEMBERS ONLY locked
Last Updated:

Requirements, best practices, documentation requirements, and time thresholds for Advance Care Planning (ACP) services. Center to Advance Palliative Care, 2018.

Billing the Physician Fee Schedule for Advance Care Planning Services
MEMBERS ONLY locked
Last Updated:

One-page reference guide to billing for advance care planning conversations. Center to Advance Palliative Care and Acevedo Consulting, August 2016.

Optimizing Billing Practices
Last Updated:

Toolkit with billing and coding best practices for palliative care services delivered in the hospital or the community.

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Communication Phrases in Palliative Care
MEMBERS ONLY locked
Last Updated:

Phrases to use when talking to members/patients and their families about prognosis, advance planning, and quality of life.

Clarifying Goals of Care
Last Updated:

Strategies for eliciting patient goals and preferences to inform treatment decisions.

start the course
VitalTalk - Quick Guides
Last Updated:

One-page guides with actionable tips for conversations with patients with serious illness. Free to download, print and share with others.

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POLST Training Videos
Last Updated:

Brief videos to help clinicians hold appropriate conversations with patients about the completion of the POLST form (Physician Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment).

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Talking with Patients About Hospice
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Last Updated:

This resource lists step-wise tips to foster comfortable, productive dialogue for ‘the hospice conversation’.

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Course Directors

Constance Dahlin, MSN, ANP-BC, ACHPN, FPCN, FAAN. Consultant, Center to Advance Palliative Care.

Andrew E. Esch, MD, MBA. Consultant, Center to Advance Palliative Care.

Lynn Hallarman, MD. Associate Professor of Medicine, Director of Palliative Medicine, Stony Brook University Hospital.

Jaime Goldberg, MSW, LCSW, ACHP-SW. PhD student, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Social Work.

Philip Higgins, PhD, LICSW. President, Lighthouse Counseling of Salem, Inc.

Lynn Hill Spragens, MBA. President and CEO Spragens & Associates, LLC.

Jay R. Horton, PhD, ACHPN, FNP-BC, MPH, CENP. Director of Nursing Safety, Quality, and Performance Improvement Mount Sinai Hospital. Assistant Professor Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

Khadidjatou Kane, MD. Oncology Hospitalist, Assistant Professor of Hospital Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Lolita Melhado, MSN, ARNP, FNP-BC. Family Nurse Practitioner/Palliative Care, Gulf Coast Medical Center - Lee Memorial Health System.

Bridget Montana, MSN, APRN, FPCN, MBA. Hope HealthCare Services, Chief Operating Officer.

Colleen Mulkerin, MSW, LCSW. Director Palliative Care Consult Service, Hartford Hospital.

Drew Rosielle, MD, FAAHPM. Palliative Care, Fairview Health Services, University of Minnesota Medical School.

David Weissman, MD. President, Palliative Care Education, LLC.

Amy Case, MD, FAAHPM. Associate Professor of Oncology, Chair, Department of Supportive Care.*

Melissa Bakar, MD. Assistant Professor, Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.*

Elizabeth Mann, MD. Fellow, Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

*indicates ABIM Peer Reviewer

Contact information: For technical questions about online activity or continuing education credits, contact membership@capc.org or 212-201-2674.

Provided by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

The Courses

Delivering Serious News

Communicating serious clinical news to patients and families.

START COURSE
Discussing Prognosis

How to discuss patient prognosis in a manner that is sensitive, clear, and supportive.

START COURSE
Clarifying Goals of Care

Strategies for eliciting patient goals and preferences to inform treatment decisions.

START COURSE

View all courses in the unit