There has been a lot of misinformation about advance care planning over the years. The latest in false reporting on this issue is told by Stateline, a news website run by the Pew Charitable Trusts.
In an article that appeared this week about possible federal payment policy for advance care planning, Pew falsely maintains the AMA is poised to “issue recommendations on what doctors should be paid for advance planning care.”
While the AMA has supported coverage of advance care planning since 1990, the AMA has no current or future plans to recommend specific payment amounts for physicians who provide advance care planning.
Simply put, Pew got it wrong and demonstrated a lack of basic understanding for the AMA’s role. Regardless of Pew’s unsupported statement, the AMA does not recommend, suggest or specify payment rates for advance care planning or any medical service.
Payment policies for medical services are the sole responsibility of payers. When formulated properly, they should be made based on a full understanding of the time and resources a physician utilizes when completing a procedure. That’s why the AMA and the medical specialty societies convene a committee that is an important source of input to Medicare on the time, work and resources that go into being a skilled healer.
The physician plays an important role in initiating and guiding advance care planning and needs to be involved in these consultations in order to understand the patient and establish a trustworthy shared decision-making process.
In reality, consultations with a physician about advance care planning are straightforward examples of patient-centered care. Attempts to distort the issue and stir controversy only serve to confuse patients and cause undue heartache as loved ones are forced to make medical decisions without necessary guidance.
