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Core Principles for Care Models

At the core of our 2030 Moonshot is a future where everyone with a serious illness, especially those most in need, has access to high quality care from diagnosis through to the end of life.

Our approach

To get there we need to ensure that — no matter their illness, no matter their age, no matter who’s paying for care, no matter the care model — the patient and family have access to care based on what matters most to them.   

That’s why we’ve developed Core Principles for Care Models for Those with Serious Illness to provide clear guideposts that can be used to evaluate payment and care models, and align with the evidence-based 4th edition of the National Consensus Project Clinical Practice Guidelines and the latest research. Click here to learn how our new principles align with CMMI’s new strategy to transform health systems. 

How you can use them:

  • As a checklist for evaluation of current and planned programs
  • As a source for ideas for improving current and future models.

How you can help:

  • Give us your feedback on the Principles – do they capture how you would evaluate high quality care?
  • Tell us about which Principles you’re currently working on, where you’ve had successful breakthroughs, and where you’re running into policy barriers or opportunities to expand the work. 

Core Principles for Care Models for Those With Serious Illness

Aims

  1. Care is person- and family-centered, improving quality of life.
  2. Care is inclusive – reducing inequities and disparities, and removing barriers to access and to quality care.

Delivering care that is person- and family-centered requires models that incorporate the patient voice. As outlined in our policy agenda, the incorporation of advance care planning (ACP) into model development is a means of ensuring that a patient’s values and preferences are being fulfilled throughout care delivery. Additionally, the provision of inclusive care is an essential component of advancing health equity and dismantling systemic racism.

Care

  1. Each person’s physical, social, psychological, and spiritual needs are assessed on an ongoing and standardized basis.
  2. A care plan is developed, using shared decision making, based on those needs and the person’s individual goals and preferences.
  3. Care is provided by a qualified core interdisciplinary team, with additional team members as needed.
  4. Care is accessible 24/7 (using technology as appropriate) and available throughout the continuum of a serious illness (including in the home when appropriate).
  5. Care is comprehensive, coordinated, with seamless transitions, and with integration of clinical and community-based services and supports for the person and family caregiver(s).

The above Principles envision care models that put the patient’s values and preferences at the center of care delivery that is accessible, interdisciplinary, and supports the holistic needs of individuals and their families. This vision is reflected in our support for increasing home- and community-based care, which can break down silos of care delivery and support coordination of services. Models that incorporate these Principles will account for the complex needs of an individual and provide the necessary payment structure to support the services and providers necessary to meet them.

Payment

  1. Payment is value-based, available to qualified organizations of any size, and includes risk adjustment, upfront investment, accountability, standardized metrics, and quality improvement, and covers both clinical and social services.

These Core Principles will provide a target for achieving shared goals throughout our field and provide a “model for models” to move closer to comprehensive care for the person and family.

For more information or to provide comments on these principles, please contact us at info@thectac.org