C-TAC Appoints Two New Board Members
Nancy Brown, CEO of American Heart Association and
Rev. Dr. Major Lewis Jemison, Senior Pastor of St. John Missionary Baptist Church Bring Experience and Commitment to C-TAC
Nov. 20, 2014—The Coalition to Transform Advanced Care (C-TAC) appointed two new members to its Board of Directors: Nancy Brown, of the American Heart Association (AHA) and Rev. Dr. Major Lewis Jemison, senior pastor of St. John Missionary Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, OK, and former President and Chief Executive Officer of the Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc. The appointments were announced at C-TAC’s 2014 Member Meeting held in Washington, DC, November 17-18th. As the issues of advanced illness affect more people each day, including patients, their caregivers and families, and healthcare providers, C-TAC continues to add new energy and experience in order to further the organization’s mission.
Nancy Brown, a leading force with C-TAC since its inception, took over at the helm of the nation’s oldest, largest voluntary organization devoted to fighting cardiovascular diseases and stroke in 2009, after eight years as the AHA’s COO. We welcome her expertise, passion and decades of dedication to improving health and well-being of Americans, and look forward to her continued contributions to C-TAC.
Rev. Dr. Major Lewis Jemison brings his long-time devotion to, and knowledge of, building bridges within communities. His unique perspective will be invaluable in all of C-TAC’s work, specifically with the community action model focused on partnering health systems and the faith community to improve advanced illness care delivery.
C-TAC Member Event: Nov. 17-18
On November 17th and 18th C-TAC will host its 4th annual conference for members of the Coalition.
The event will begin with a Reception on 6.30-9pm at AARP’s Rotunda Room, 601 E Street NW, Washington, DC 20049; followed by a day-long session for Workgroups on November 18th at the AARP Brickfield Center, 601 E Street NW, Washington DC 20049.
In addition to working sessions on C-TAC priority projects (the Advanced Care Project, Community Action, Policy Advocacy), the members conference will feature:
- Institute of Medicine Report: “Dying in America: Improving Quality and Honoring Individual Preferences near the End of Life”. Leonard Schaeffer, University of Southern California (moderator); Joan Teno, M.D., Brown University; Pamela Hinds, M.D., George Washington University; and Adrienne Stith Butler, IOM
- The Power of Storytelling: Performance-driven Narrative. Robyn Castellani, President, Castle & Spark.
If you are a member and have not registered, you can do so here. Please contact Jackie Buente at for the conference agenda and any questions regarding your 2014 C-TAC Membership Renewal.
Statement on IOM “Dying In America” Report
September 17, 2014
The report released today by the Institute of Medicine, Dying in America: Improving Quality and Honoring Individual Preferences Near the End of Life, marks a critical milestone in the evolution of how we care for the sickest and most vulnerable people in this country. Meaningful dialogue around this topic must increase on a national scale if we are to improve how we treat and support those with advanced illness. The IOM’s work here today is a very significant step toward doing that.
“Most people living with advanced illness are not receiving the care they want at a time when they need it most. This is for a variety reasons, including a fragmented system, people not feeling empowered to speak up, and financial barriers,” said Bill Novelli, Co-Chair of the Coalition to Transform Advanced Care (C-TAC) and a member of the IOM’s report committee. “The good news is there are promising models for improving care that we can learn from and this report sheds light on those key learnings.”
“We all have a role in ensuring people receive the right care at the right time and place, consistent with their values. To be successful, we must collaborate to implement solutions that ensure seriously ill people receive the medical and social services that meet their needs,” said Leonard D. Schaeffer, Judge Robert Maclay Widney Chair and Professor at the University of Southern California, member of the IOM’s report committee, and board member for C-TAC. “The challenge is significant, but this report shows we have the knowledge and creativity to improve end-of-life care for many people. We encourage policymakers, health and medical professionals, the faith community and the public to read and share this report’s findings.”
About C-TAC: The mission at C-TAC is to transform advanced illness care by empowering consumers, changing the healthcare delivery system, improving public and private policies, and enhancing provider capacity. C-TAC is a non-profit, non-partisan alliance of patient and consumer advocacy groups, health care professionals and providers, private sector stakeholders, faith-based organizations and health care payers. C-TAC is co-chaired by Tom Koutsoumpas (President, Caring Foundations) and Bill Novelli (Professor, McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University).
California Quality Collaborative’s Take Accountability for Ambulatory Care Transitions (TAACT)
California Quality Collaborative’s post-discharge readmissions collaborative- Take Accountability for Ambulatory Care Transitions (TAACT)- offers you an opportunity to assess your needs, build a plan for action, and measure your improvement through interactive and hands-on Learning Sessions and Action Periods. CQC’s Readmissions Collaborative begins on June 26, 2014 in Anaheim, California.
The collaborative includes:
- 3 in person Learning Sessions [June 26, September 17, December 3]
- Online Webinars
- Customized coaching calls and site visits between Learning Sessions
- Guidance on the development of an action plan
- Instruction from CQC faculty & peer faculty
- Real examples & lessons learned
More information about TAACT can be found at: http://www.calquality.org/programs/reducing-readmissions/taact
Topics in Healthcare Symposium
The California Quality Collaborative and the California HealthCare Foundation are presenting a Topics In Healthcare Symposium on June 12, 2014 in Anaheim, California. The two sessions of the Symposium will convene professionals across the healthcare continuum to learn about and exchange new ideas around the role that outpatient palliative care programs play in readmission prevention and provide hands on training on the fundamentals of quality improvement with a focus on its application to readmissions.
Registration and more information about the event can be found at: http://cqc-topics-june-2014.eventbrite.com
Questions can be directed to:
C-TAC Featured in Bipartisan Senate Aging Committee Roundtable
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Judith McAuley
202-973-5883
[email protected]
May 21, 2014
Bipartisan Leaders of Senate Committee on Aging Roundtable Raising Awareness around Advanced Illness Care
C-TAC’s Bill Novelli Joins AHIP Foundation’s Carmella Bocchino to Discuss Advanced Care Delivery with Senate Leaders
With more Americans living longer and as Baby Boomers begin to age, the Senate Committee on Aging today convened experts in all aspects of care delivery to examine how best to improve the way we care for people with advanced illness and their caregivers in America. Participants of the Roundtable described the Advanced Care Project – a joint C-TAC and AHIP Foundation’s Institute for Health Systems Solutions initiative – as an example of the kind of innovative effort we need to transform today’s advanced care delivery system to meet growing needs of patients and their families.
“In today’s health care system, patients and their families have great difficulty getting the help they need at this very difficult time in their lives,” said Bill Novelli, Co-Chair of the Coalition to Transform Advanced Care (C-TAC), professor at Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business and former CEO of AARP. “Today’s discussion is about the best practices to enhance care quality for everyone with advanced illness, including the sickest and most vulnerable, and to do it on a national scale.”
Jennie Chin Hansen, CEO of the American Geriatrics Society, moderated the panel discussion, which also included Aetna’s National Medical Director, Medical Strategies, Randy Krakauer, Hospice care expert Samira Beckwith of Hope HealthCare Services, Carmella Bocchino, R.N., an officer with AHIP Foundation and others.
Estimates show that by 2030, there will be 72.1 million persons over 65 years, more than twice the number in 2000[1]. Many of these individuals will have substantial disability and chronic condition associated with older age.[2] Most of this population will ultimately face advanced illness –a time when experts suggest that fragmented, uncoordinated care prevents patients and caregivers from having their personal wishes met.
“Every family is impacted at some point by the need for advanced illness care. This is a reality that will help build momentum among all stakeholders to broadly expand the next generation of innovative programs to improve advanced illness care management,” said Carmella Bocchino.
C-TAC and the AHIP Foundation’s Institute for Health Systems Solutions launched the Advanced Care Project last year to establish best practice models in advanced care and actively promote them for adoption nationwide.
“The Advanced Care Project represents a critically important partnership which brings together promising collaborations between multiple private-sector stakeholders including health plans, health systems, a range of clinicians and related organizations and community-based groups,” said Gary Bacher, Director of AHIP Foundation’s Institute for Health Systems Solutions.
“We thrilled to have the opportunity to join a group of bipartisan Senate leader and key experts to discuss this initiative,” stated Tom Koutsoumpas, Co-Chair of C-TAC.
The roundtable will be streamed live at http://www.aging.senate.gov/hearings/continuing-the-conversation_the-role-of-health-care-providers-in-advance-care-planning
To learn more about the Advanced Care Project, visit www.thectac.org or http://www.healthsystemssolutions.org.
About C-TAC:
C-TAC is a non-profit, non-partisan alliance of patient and consumer advocacy groups, health care professionals and providers, private sector stakeholders, faith-based organizations and health care payers. Its mission is to transform advanced illness care by empowering consumers, changing the health delivery system, improving public and private policies and enhancing provider capacity. http://www.theCTAC.org
About the AHIP Foundation’s Institute for Health Systems Solutions:
The AHIP Foundation is a non-profit, non-partisan 501(c)(3) organization. Its Institute for Health Systems Solutions’ mission is to advance solution-based, forward-looking, collaborative ideas and thought leadership focused on health systems change that improves the quality, affordability, and availability of care and puts the health care system on more sustainable financial footing. For more information, visit: http://www.healthsystemssolutions.org.
[1] “A Profile of Older Americans: 2013.” Administration on Aging; Administration for Community Living; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. http://www.aoa.gov/Aging_Statistics/Profile/2013/4.aspx
[2] Coalition to Transform Advanced Care (C-TAC). “Advanced Illness Key Statistics” https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B2Yr38cBOUqzUkhWLWJyZ25YQlU/edit
C-TAC News Bulletin March & April 2014
Things are humming at C-TAC central. Important Coalition events are being scheduled and momentum for our shared vision continues to build. This bulletin highlights our progress in only a select number of areas, but expect more in subsequent issues. Most importantly, C-TAC is pleased to announce our
2nd National Summit on Advanced Illness Care!
Mark Your Calendars for March 2-3, 2015
To be held at the National Academy of Sciences building here in Washington, DC!
Other Important Calendar Events
- C-TAC Member Meeting in Washington, D.C. – November 18, 2014
- 7th Annual National Healthcare Decisions Day (NHDD) – April 16, 2014
Workgroup & Key Initiative Updates
Interfaith and Diversity
- A subcommittee has been tasked with operationalizing the Cultural Competency Project beginning with a search for experts in cultural and spiritual competencies to engage in a review of the literature specific to this project.
- Rev. Angela Overton, Director of Strategic Planning, spoke on behalf of the Workgroup March 17th at the Quarterly Meeting for the Cancer Action Coalition of Virginia, encouraging partnerships among faith and community-based organizations.
Policy & Advocacy
- The Senate Aging Committee has invited C-TAC to participate in a public Roundtable led by Committee Members and staff in May, to address the needs among caregivers and populations facing advanced illness. We believe this will be an important opportunity to champion the role of C-TAC and its members in transforming the delivery of advanced care nationwide.
Clinical Models
- A series of Webinars for 2014 have been scheduled with participating organizations for the Advanced Care Project (ACP). The ACP is a partnership between C-TAC and the AHIP Foundation’s Institute for Health Systems Solutions (IHSS); it will identify, analyze, and compare clinical care models for advanced illness care management and then promote the implementation of these results across the United States.
Public Engagement
- Coalition members and C-TAC staff will be testing and evaluating CareJourney.org. Pilot sites include Sharp Healthcare, InterMed Healthcare Centers Inc., St. John Providence Health System, and Allina Health.
Professional Engagement
- The Advisory Board Company, a performance improvement organization that provides support and guidance to hospitals and clinicians on a variety of topics, is providing pro bono research to C-TAC to perform an extensive literature review of 115 decision aids along with a series of interviews with experts. The goal is to glean best practices that foster successful implementation of high quality decision aids. The full report to be completed in June.
- On April 4th C-TAC’s Deputy Executive Director, Jon Broyles, and Professional Engagement co-chair, Marian Grant, presented at the Wesley Seminary Health Ministries Certificate Pilot Program. The Certificate Program provides an introductory educational foundation for health ministers in faith communities.
- C-TAC is pleased to announce the receipt of a grant from APCO Worldwide, a stakeholder engagement and business strategy firm, to focus on the implementation phase of the Informed Decision Making Project.
What Can You Do To Further our Shared Mission and Vision?
- Share this news bulletin with members of your organization and your constituents.
- Send us relevant news to feature in our monthly bulletin. We want to highlight the great work you are doing!
- Follow us on Twitter: @CTACorg
- Check out the month’s updates on the C-TAC blog. Interested in contributing a post? Contact for details.
- For more information regarding workgroup initiatives and how you can support these activities, please email .
About C-TAC
C-TAC is a national non-profit, non-partisan alliance of 100+ patient and consumer advocacy groups, health care professionals and providers, private sector stakeholders, faith-based organizations, and health care payers with the shared vision that all Americans with advanced illness, especially the sickest and most vulnerable, will receive comprehensive, high-quality, person- and family-centered care that is consistent with their goals and values and honors their dignity.
Allina Health LifeCourse Features First Late Life Documentary: Redefining Care
With LifeCourse™, Allina Health tries new ways to support patients with serious illness and their caregivers
MINNEAPOLIS – (February 24, 2014) – More than 100 people die every day in Minnesota. Some deaths, from heart attacks and accidents, are unexpected. But most people die of causes that they might have had for months or years.
Allina Health is two years into a multi-year study called LifeCourse™ that could improve the way people with serious illnesses live. The LifeCourse team will work with about 350 study participants living with dementia, stage 3 and 4 cancer and heart failure.
“Patients and their loved ones often struggle with medical and non-medical challenges when living with a serious illness. They try to coordinate increasingly complicated care, and non-medical factors that influence critical care decisions are not effectively addressed,” said Eric Anderson, MD, LifeCourse principle investigator.
“So often, patients are given care that health care providers assume they need. In LifeCourse, we want to start with the patient’s story and what the patient wants and create a plan around that,” said Sandra Schellinger, NP-C, LifeCourse co-investigator.
At the center of the LifeCourse care team is a specially trained non-clinical care guide who partners with patients, their family members and friends to learn what is most important to them to live well. The care guide is supported by a chaplain, marriage and family therapist, social worker, pharmacist and nurse who support the work of the care guide and provide resources to help patients live as they wish.
In the first year of LifeCourse, researchers have learned that patients and families often appreciate the chance to share their story with a skilled, compassionate listener. Physicians have expressed appreciation for the work of the care guide, who has helped them know their patient better. LifeCourse has engaged other care teams and community services, so patients can make the most of their available resources.
The work of LifeCourse will be featured by Twin Cities Public Television (TPT) in a six-episode documentary called “Late Life” that will premier March 18. LifeCourse is funded by the Robina Foundation, in partnership with Abbott Northwestern Hospital, Augustana Care and Walker Methodist. The University of Minnesota is a partner in the research, design, and evaluation of the project.
About Allina Health
Allina Health is dedicated to the prevention and treatment of illness and enhancing the greater health of individuals, families and communities throughout Minnesota and western Wisconsin. A not-for-profit health care system, Allina Health cares for patients from beginning to end-of-life through its 90+ clinics, 12 hospitals, 14 pharmacies, specialty care centers and specialty medical services that provide home care, senior transitions, hospice care, home oxygen and medical equipment, and emergency medical transportation services. Learn more at allinahealth.org.
About tpt’s Minnesota Productions & Partnerships
TPT’s Minnesota Productions & Partnerships (tpt MN) is the local production division of Twin Cities Public Television (tpt), the PBS affiliate for Minneapolis/St. Paul. TPT MN partners with local nonprofit, educational, governmental, and public service organizations to reach broader audiences throughout Minnesota. These partnership programs educate and inspire Minnesotans on important issues using tpt’s distinctive storytelling skills, television and multimedia resources. Since its inception in 2003, tpt MN has created nearly 700 television programs and over 200 multimedia projects in partnership with over 235 nonprofit and public service organizations. To learn more about tpt MN, connect with us on Twitter and Facebook, or visit our website at www.tptMN.org.
View LifeCourse online and click here!
Media Contact: Gloria O’Connell, ,
C-TAC News Bulletin Jan. & Feb. 2014
C-TAC has significant momentum heading into Spring 2014. As you’ll see below, we have established milestones, formed partnerships and brought on resources to implement the Coalition’s Strategic Plan. Please join us in driving transformation of advanced illness care this year.
C-TAC Expands Leadership & Expertise
- David E. Longnecker, M.D. appointed Executive Director
- Jon Broyles promoted to Deputy Executive Director
- Nancy Taylor of Kaiser Permanente lends her expertise as Co-Chair of the Public Engagement Workgroup
- Mary Jane Koren, M.D., M.P.H., joins the C-TAC Steering Committee.
- C-TAC welcomes 2 new member organizations:
- The SCAN Health Plan
- Cambia Health Foundation
Workgroup / Key Initiative Update:
Interfaith and Diversity:
- Aetna Foundation provides funding for C-TAC’s Cultural Competency Project.
- Interfaith Consultation Kick-Off in Oakland, CA “A Faith Based Movement to Transform Care for Caregivers.” For details read here.
Policy & Advocacy
- Rhode Island Initiative: Co-Chair Bill Novelli participated in a Rhode Island meeting organized by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and staff to explore opportunities for a state-wide initiative to improve advanced illness care in RI.
- C-TAC launches Policy Makers Stories: Senators Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Mark Warner (D-VA), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) share their policy views and caregiving experiences in a short, powerful video clip on the C-TAC website.
Clinical Models
- With support from The Commonwealth Fund, C-TAC and AHIP Foundation’s Institute for Health Systems Solutions (IHSS) are producing a report on the core principles and components of clinical and payment frameworks. The report, a component of the Advanced Care Project (ACP), will be released in April 2014 based on expert consensus among ACP leading participants.
Public Engagement
- Progress continues on CareJourney.org website. A copy editor is conducting a thorough review of 70+ pages of member-contributed content to edit, align voice, simplify language and create consistent headings to promote efficient navigation.
- The research brief, Public Perceptions of Advanced Illness Care: How Can We Talk When There’s No Shared Language, is updated and highlights the substantial communication gap between patients/families with advanced illness and their health care providers.
Professional Engagement
- The Advisory Board Company executes a detailed literature review of 115 decision-making tools.
- Workgroup Co-Chair Marian Grant, DNP, RN, CRNP, ACHPN, has been named 2014-2015 Health Policy Fellow of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellows Program.
- C-TAC is partnering with The CSU Institute for Palliative Care to undertake a national survey of hospital systems about their palliative care/supportive care/advanced illness management workforce development needs and investment plans.
Mark Your Calendar
- 2015 National Summit – C-TAC leadership is exploring dates for the event. Stay tuned!
- Path Forward Book planned for release in 2014. This book will:
- Create a common understanding of the issues, challenges and the solutions for transforming care.
- Create a shared sense of mission and involvement in a movement for change.
- Identify the action steps for achieving high-quality advanced illness care.
- Establish C-TAC as the connector/catalyst for all of this.
What Can You Do?
- Share this newsletter with members of your organization and your constituents.
- Send us relevant news to feature in our Newsletter. We want to highlight the great work you are doing!
- Follow us on Twitter: @CTACorg
- Check out the month’s updates on the C-TAC blog. Interested in contributing a post, contact for details.
- For more information regarding workgroup initiatives and how you can support these activities, please email .
About C-TAC
C-TAC is a national non-profit, non-partisan alliance of 100+ patient and consumer advocacy groups, health care professionals and providers, private sector stakeholders, faith-based organizations, and health care payers with the shared vision that all Americans with advanced illness, especially the sickest and most vulnerable, will receive comprehensive, high-quality, person- and family-centered care that is consistent with their goals and values and honors their dignity.
Mary Jane Koren, M.D., M.P.H., joins the ranks on C-TAC Steering Committee
Mary Jane Koren, M.D., M.P.H., Dr. Koren, a geriatrician, began her career in geriatrics at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, New York, where she started the geriatrics fellowship program and was assistant medical director for their home care agency. In 1986, Dr. Koren joined the faculty of the department of geriatrics at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and was named Associate Chief of Staff for Extended Care at the Bronx Veterans Administration Medical Center. She later joined the New York State Department of Health as the Director of the Bureau of Long Term Care Services, which oversaw the state’s nursing homes and adult day health care programs.
Dr. Koren recently retired as Vice President for LTC Quality Improvement at The Commonwealth Fund. While at the Fund, Dr. Koren gave invited testimony to Congressional committees on nursing home quality, the implications for health care of the aging of the baby boomers, and senior hunger and the Older Americans Act. She also served on numerous advisory committees and expert panels for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and other federal agencies. Dr. Koren is the immediate past chair of Advancing Excellence: Long-Term Care Collaborative, which runs the Nursing Home Quality Campaign. In 2010 she was the recipient of the Terrence Keenan Leadership Award in Health Philanthropy from Grantmakers in Health.