BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ACP Decisions is pleased to announce that eighteen of its decision aids focused on end-of-life care have been certified by the Washington State Health Care Authority. ACP Decisions is one of only four organizations in the U.S. to receive certification within the end-of-life care category.
Washington is the first state to establish a formal process to review, certify and advocate the use of decision aids across the health continuum. As part of the “Healthier Washington” shared decision-making initiative, the state certifies tools that help people engage in health decisions with their health care providers and provide the information they need to make informed decisions.
The strict certification process ensures the consistency and quality of health information presented to patients and families. Guided by the work of the International Patient Decision Aid Standards (IPDAS) Collaborative, the basic criteria aim to ensure an accurate and unbiased presentation of treatment options that are up-to-date and understandable. Each decision aid must address values and preferences of the individual and include documentation of user testing.
“Patients deserve to be able to make informed medical decisions that match their preferences,” said Angelo Volandes, MD MPH, Co-founder and President of ACP Decisions. “We appreciate that the Washington State HCA is taking the lead in developing a process to certify patient decision aids for use by clinicians and their patients. The Washington HCA's work is ground-breaking and will be the new standard of care for the rest of the country."
In addition to the eighteen decision aids certified by Washington State, ACP Decisions offers over 200 decision aids to support advance care planning, particularly during serious illness when people are the most vulnerable.
“Our mission is to empower patients and their families so that they can be at the center of, and in control of, their health and health care,” said Aretha Delight Davis, MD, JD, Co-founder and Executive Director of ACP Decisions. “We applaud Washington State in its quest to help people make medical decisions that are true to who they are and what matters most to them.”
For more information on Washington State’s “Healthier Washington” initiative, please visit https://www.hca.wa.gov/about-hca/healthier-washington/shared-decision-making.
About ACP Decisions
ACP Decisions is a non-profit foundation based in Boston, MA whose mission is to empower patients to make informed medical decisions by engaging in shared decision making with their health care providers. ACP Decisions creates evidence-based video decision support tools that promote effective advance care planning and are easily accessible on a user-friendly technology platform. Currently, the video library consists of over 200 professionally crafted videos available in 17 different languages. To learn more, visit https://www.acpdecisions.org/ or follow the organization on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
