Improving the Process of Obtaining Advance Care Plans (ACP)

Anyone that’s been involved in patient care understands how valuable it is for patients to have a well done Advanced Care Plan (ACP) that’s been communicated to their family and caregivers.  Trying to do advanced care planning in the heat of the moment is challenging and fraught with all sorts of problems for the patient and the clinician.  This is why it is so valuable for patients to have a well documented ACP that’s been shared with their clinician and their loved ones.  And yet, far too many patients do not have one.

To learn more about the ACP and how to improve collection of them, we sat down with Dr. Brian Yeaman, MD, Primary Care Physician and Healthcare Technologist, and  Aaron Bull, VP Strategic Programs at Backline by DrFirst.  They share about their decade long journey to improve the number of advanced care plans they have on file including what works and what challenges you face when working to have an ACP on file for your patients.

In our interview, Dr. Yeaman shares what an ACP is and how it can go beyond things like advance directives.  Plus, he shares a number of stories including when an ACP is in place and when one isn’t and how that goes for the patient, the caregivers, and the clinician.  Bull and Dr. Yeaman also share details for why more people aren’t doing ACPs today along with some keys to getting more patients to do them.

It’s understandable why many patients do not want to do an ACP.  It can be an emotional experience to answer some of these hard questions.  However, Dr. Yeaman points out that while doing an ACP is challenging, it is even harder to try and do one when your loved one is dealing with some sort of medical issue.

One of the keys to collecting more ACPs is making sure you have the right workflow in place to collect the ACP.  Bull pointed out how at Backline they have worked with people like Dr. Yeaman to make sure they created the right ACP workflow for the patient and the clinician.  This includes making it easy for the clinician to invite the patient to do an ACP.  Once the invite is sent, Backline provides a simple, secure way for the patient to coordinate the creation of the ACP.  Then, most importantly, Backline makes that ACP available to the clinician within their workflow (usually the EHR) and to the patient through a portal.  The beauty of patient access to the ACP is that they can easily change it as needed.

The other important topic we discussed with Dr. Yeaman and Bull was related to reimbursement for a facilitated ACP.  Yes, there is reimbursement for ACPs, but they can be time consuming if not done with the right workflow.  One solution to this challenge is leveraging telehealth to do the ACP with the patient using clinicians who are dedicated to doing ACPs.

Check out our video interview below with Dr. Yeaman and Aaron Bull from Backline to learn more about the importance of ACPs, the impact of having an ACP on file, and how to improve the collecting and sharing of ACPs.

Learn more about Backline by DrFirst: https://backlinehealth.com/

Listen and subscribe to the Healthcare IT Today Interviews Podcast to hear all the latest insights from experts in healthcare IT.

And for an exclusive look at our top stories, subscribe to our newsletter and YouTube.

Tell us what you think. Contact us here or on Twitter at @hcitoday. And if you’re interested in advertising with us, check out our various advertising packages and request our Media Kit.

is a proud sponsor of Healthcare Scene.

Anyone that’s been involved in patient care understands how valuable it is for patients to have a well done Advanced Care Plan (ACP) that’s been communicated to their family and caregivers.  Trying to do advanced care planning in the heat of the moment is challenging and fraught with all sorts of problems for the patient and the clinician.  This is why it is so valuable for patients to have a well documented ACP that’s been shared with their clinician and their loved ones.  And yet, far too many patients do not have one.

To learn more about the ACP and how to improve collection of them, we sat down with Dr. Brian Yeaman, MD, Primary Care Physician and Healthcare Technologist, and  Aaron Bull, VP Strategic Programs at Backline by DrFirst.  They share about their decade long journey to improve the number of advanced care plans they have on file including what works and what challenges you face when working to have an ACP on file for your patients.

In our interview, Dr. Yeaman shares what an ACP is and how it can go beyond things like advance directives.  Plus, he shares a number of stories including when an ACP is in place and when one isn’t and how that goes for the patient, the caregivers, and the clinician.  Bull and Dr. Yeaman also share details for why more people aren’t doing ACPs today along with some keys to getting more patients to do them.

It’s understandable why many patients do not want to do an ACP.  It can be an emotional experience to answer some of these hard questions.  However, Dr. Yeaman points out that while doing an ACP is challenging, it is even harder to try and do one when your loved one is dealing with some sort of medical issue.

One of the keys to collecting more ACPs is making sure you have the right workflow in place to collect the ACP.  Bull pointed out how at Backline they have worked with people like Dr. Yeaman to make sure they created the right ACP workflow for the patient and the clinician.  This includes making it easy for the clinician to invite the patient to do an ACP.  Once the invite is sent, Backline provides a simple, secure way for the patient to coordinate the creation of the ACP.  Then, most importantly, Backline makes that ACP available to the clinician within their workflow (usually the EHR) and to the patient through a portal.  The beauty of patient access to the ACP is that they can easily change it as needed.

The other important topic we discussed with Dr. Yeaman and Bull was related to reimbursement for a facilitated ACP.  Yes, there is reimbursement for ACPs, but they can be time consuming if not done with the right workflow.  One solution to this challenge is leveraging telehealth to do the ACP with the patient using clinicians who are dedicated to doing ACPs.

Check out our video interview below with Dr. Yeaman and Aaron Bull from Backline to learn more about the importance of ACPs, the impact of having an ACP on file, and how to improve the collecting and sharing of ACPs.

Learn more about Backline by DrFirst: https://backlinehealth.com/

Listen and subscribe to the Healthcare IT Today Interviews Podcast to hear all the latest insights from experts in healthcare IT.

And for an exclusive look at our top stories, subscribe to our newsletter and YouTube.

Tell us what you think. Contact us here or on Twitter at @hcitoday. And if you’re interested in advertising with us, check out our various advertising packages and request our Media Kit.

is a proud sponsor of Healthcare Scene.