Advance Care Planning

Advance Care Planning
(Terminal illness)

Examples of Advance
Directives Include:

A healthcare proxy, also referred to as a “healthcare representative” or a “healthcare power of attorney,” enables you to nominate a family member or trusted friend to speak on your behalf and make decisions while you are unavailable or unable to do so.

A living will is a formal declaration of health care intentions to be made if you are unable to speak. Examples of these include decisions regarding life support, disabling pacemakers or defibrillators, nutrition, and dialysis.

Resources

Advance Care Planning is covered by the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule and Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment Systems as of January 1, 2016. In addition to other resources, the brand-new CMS Advance Care Planning Fact Sheet (PDF) provides information on how to bill ACP services, how to code ACP services, provider and beneficiary eligibility information, and examples of ACP in action.

If you are unable to talk about yourself, advance treatment preparation requires decisions regarding the service you would require. Regardless of what you choose, you can make choices based on your personal beliefs, aspirations, and conversations with loved ones. Who will talk about you if you get hurt or have a condition that prevents you from talking about your wishes? If you want your medical treatments to continue or stop at the end of your life, you should tell your loved ones, friends, and healthcare providers what you value and your personal interests are. Advance treatment planning includes the following:

Acquiring information about the various treatments that can save a patient's life.

Deciding what kinds of treatments you would or wouldn't want if you were given a diagnosis of a disease that will end your life.

Expressing your personal values to those you care about.

In the event that you are unable to speak for yourself, completing advance directives to express in writing the kinds of treatment you would or would not want is essential.