News
For Immediate Release
Contact: Rosy McGillan, Porter Novelli,
[email protected]
202-973-1361
May 30, 2012
Coalition to Transform Advanced Care (C-TAC) Presents at Annual Conference
Teams up with the International Society of Advance Care Planning
CHICAGO- Members of the Coalition to Transform Advanced Care (C-TAC) will be presenting on key issues at the 3rd International Society of Advance Care Planning and End of Life Care Conference (ACPEL), from May 31 – June 2 in Chicago, Ill.
Drawing on international experts in the fields of advance care planning and other related disciplines, this year’s ACPEL program will focus on effective ways to improve person-centered care, beginning with improvement in communication among persons living with advanced illness, families, and clinicians.
“As we aim to provide an increasingly higher standard of care to people and families living with advanced illness,” said Tom Koutsoumpas, C-TAC Co-Chair and a presenter at the conference, “we recognize the need to learn from other groups and models and incorporate these lessons into a comprehensive model that includes all activities on the care continuum.”
In the past two years, the conference has attracted physicians, nurses, policy makers, researchers, medical officers and directors, social workers, and chaplains all united by the desire to improve care. Some are at early stages of learning about effective advance care planning programs, while others face more complex implementation issues.
“Advance care planning continues to expand as we recognize the importance of patients’ preferences,” said Dr. Brad Stuart of Sutter Health/Sutter Care at Home, C-TAC Board Member, and a presenter. “This is a key factor in the growing emphasis on improving advanced care; many feel that the way we care for our most sick and vulnerable patients is a testament to our society as a whole.”
Bud Hammes of Gundersen Health System, also a member of C-TAC’s Board and a presenter, is the convener of this conference. Members of C-TAC will be working with the ACPEL and Gunderson Health System to:
- Reinforce that all people living with advanced illness receive comprehensive, high-quality, person- and family-centered care that is consistent with their goals and values and honors their dignity.
- Identify key elements in developing evidence-based advance care planning programs.
- Describe cutting-edge, innovative strategies that improve advance care planning communication.
About ACPEL
The International Society of Advance Care Planning and End of Life Care (ACPEL) was founded in 2010, at the Inaugural International Advance Care Planning Conference. The Inaugural International Advance Care Planning Conference was founded by Professor Bill Silvester, who was a member of Respecting Patient Choice. The Society already has nearly one thousand members and is based out of Collingwood, Australia.
About C-TAC
C-TAC is a large, active Coalition of patient and consumer groups, care providers, private sector stakeholders, faith-based organizations, health care payers and others. The organization is non-profit and non-partisan. The C-TAC mission is to transform advanced illness care by empowering consumers, changing the health care delivery system, improving public and private policies, and enhancing provider capacity.
The Board of Directors includes Tom Koutsoumpas, Board Co-Chair and Executive Director, Mintz Levin Center for Health Law & Policy; Bill Novelli, Board Co-Chair and Professor, McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University, and former CEO of AARP; Myra Christopher, Board Treasurer, and former CEO and President, Center for Practical Bioethics; Alexandra Drane, President and Co-Founder, Eliza Corporation; Bud Hammes, Director of Medical Humanities, Gundersen Health System; Thomas Higgins, President and CEO, Prosetta Corporation, Randy Krakauer, MD, National Medical Director of Medicare, Aetna; David Longnecker, MD, Director, Association of American Medical Colleges; Cynda Hylton Rushton, Professor of Nursing and Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins School of Nursing; Charlie Sabatino, Director, ABA Commission on Law and Aging; Don Schumacher, President and CEO, National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization; Brad Stuart, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Sutter Care at Home; and Jeff Weiss, Founder and Director of Center for Corporate Innovation. Nancy Brown, CEO, American Heart Association, and Jennie Chin Hansen, CEO, American Geriatrics Society, are Co-Chairs of C-TAC’s Steering Committee.
C-TAC is funded in part by grants from the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, The SCAN Foundation, and the support of members. Visit advancedcarecoalition.org for a list of C-TAC members, the C-TAC action plan, and more information on the organization.
For a pdf copy of this press release click here.