The Challenge

For the millions of Americans with advanced illness, the availability of appropriate care varies tremendously.

Inadequately treated physical and emotional distress, fragmented care systems, poor communication among doctors, patients, and families, and enormous strains on caregivers frequently characterize the care people often receive.

But there are good models of care out there, as our members have shown, and we are working to make these models available to everyone — to provide the right care at the right time and place, so patients and their families can get the help that they want, and avoid unproductive treatments that can add to their burden.

What We Do
Our members have expertise in all the areas that affect advanced illness. They also have tested models of care that work: patients and their families receive quality, seamless care that results in high patient and family satisfaction and lower costs.

Call to Action
There is an urgent need to fix the fragmented care patients receive now. Many people are not getting what they need and this problem is only going to get worse. Within 20 years, the 65+ population will double and these are the majority of people who will need advanced care. Our non-partisan Coalition is already off to a good start focused on

• Doing What Works: promoting best-practice care delivery (the models that work in clinical and community settings) to ensure high-quality, coordinated advanced illness care, across all settings;
• Empowering the Public: helping people to understand and make informed choices for themselves and their families and to call for change in care delivery and in policies;
• Educating Health Professionals: to better serve patients and families/caregivers so people know their options, make informed choices, get the care they need and avoid procedures they don’t want;
• Creating Policy Change: developing and advocating for federal and state legislative, regulatory, judicial and administrative initiatives and also private policies to improve care for those with advanced illness.

To learn more about advanced illness, our mission & vision, coalition members, and plan to reform advanced care, please download and return this form to us at [email protected]