Empowering Patient Choice: The Essential Need for a Voluntary Advance Directive Framework in Healthcare

Empowering Patient Choice: The Essential Need for a Voluntary Advance Directive Framework in Healthcare
Alzheimer's and Dementia; Stephanie Frilling; 1/25
A Medicare Voluntary Advance Directive Framework (Framework) would enable the creation, storage, and sharing of advance directive documents, ensuring end-of-life care appropriately honors the individual and their care wishes, while supporting healthcare teams and family members in making care decisions for their patients and loved ones. With Medicare enrollment reaching over 65 million beneficiaries in 2023, and Alzheimer's becoming one of the most expensive conditions - CMS policy makers have a growing responsibility to improve care quality at end-of-life.