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Dear Colleagues,
For the last 10 years, HCCN and SCA have maintained an active role and presence in Washington D.C. through our advocacy partners Akin Gump. We have been successful in influencing legislation, meeting with government agencies including Medicare/Medicaid, and holding face-to-face conferences with elected officials and their staffers. I am proud to say we have successfully raised the image and importance of the profession of chaplaincy and the field of spiritual care. However, there is more to do and today I need to ask for YOUR voice!
The United States Senate is currently considering the Improving Access to Advance Care Planning Act (S. 4873), bipartisan legislation that has the potential to greatly increase Medicare beneficiaries’ access to advance care planning (ACP) services. One goal of the Act is to expand the definition of eligible practitioners.
HealthCare Chaplaincy Network and Spiritual Care Association strongly support the bill. However, existing regulations restrict the ability of chaplains to engage in ACP discussions with Medicare beneficiaries and document the results. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has not interpreted “non-physician practitioner” to include board-certified chaplains, nor has CMS clearly acknowledged chaplains’ role in providing ACP services in hospitals and other health care settings. By limiting the personnel who can provide ACP services, the Agency has restricted the availability and value of this crucial benefit.
As you and I in the spiritual care field know well, board certified chaplains are skilled at this task – including the explanation and discussion of advance directives and the completion of necessary documentation – and their assistance is well received by patients. Chaplains trained in evidence-based practice and tested for competency are well-prepared for this form of patient support and intervention.
I have written to the bill co-sponsors, Senator Mark Warner and Senator Susan Collins, to ask that they consider specifically including board certified chaplains as eligible practitioners who may work with doctors to discuss advance care planning with patients and their families.
I am asking you to email the senators with this same urgent request. Suggested text and the email addresses of the senators’ staff members are included below.
Thank you for standing up for this important issue, strongly supporting the profession of chaplaincy and helping to reach greater numbers of people with critical information on advance care planning.
Sincerely,
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Rev. Eric J. Hall, DTh, APBCC
President and Chief Executive Officer
HealthCare Chaplaincy Network and the Spiritual Care Association
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The following is suggested text that you can copy and paste in your own email to the senators. Please conclude by adding your name and home address.
Email to:
Colleen Nguyen, Senior Adviser
Office of Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA)
Ben Arquit, Legislative Correspondent
Office of Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME)
I am writing to express my support for the Improving Access to Advance Care Planning Act (S. 4873), and to respectfully urge the inclusion of specific provisions in the bill to grant physicians additional flexibility to partner with board-certified chaplains to provide Advance Care Planning services to Medicare beneficiaries in appropriate instances.
Chaplains are skilled at this task – including the explanation and discussion of advance directives and the completion of necessary documentation – and their assistance is well received by patients. Board-certified chaplains across the nation currently specialize in helping Medicare beneficiaries articulate their values and beliefs in relationship to ACP. They are trained to work with people of any faith or no faith while demonstrating cultural competence and sensitivity.
By limiting the personnel who can provide ACP services, CMS has restricted the availability of this crucial benefit. I therefore respectfully ask that the legislation be modified to clarify the authority of physicians to work with board-certified chaplains who are evidence-based trained and tested for clinical competency to provide patients with ACP information. Specifically including chaplains among “non-physician practitioners” will reduce the burden on physicians and expand access to ACP services for Medicare beneficiaries, which can lead to reduced costs for the Medicare program. With this addition, the legislation will be even more effective in helping health care providers reach greater numbers of people with advance care planning information. Thank you for your leadership on this critical issue.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
[Your address]
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Since its founding in 1961, HealthCare Chaplaincy Network (HCCN) has led the way in the integration of spiritual care in health care through clinical practice, education, research, and advocacy. The organization has grown from a small program providing hospital chaplaincy in the New York metropolitan area into an internationally recognized model for multi-faith spiritual care, education, and research. The parent company of the Spiritual Care Association (SCA) and the SCA University of Theology and Spirituality (UTS), HCCN has catalyzed spiritual care research through a grant from the John Templeton Foundation, which has resulted in ground-breaking studies that provide an evidence base for the effectiveness of spiritual care in health care. Through the publication of several key white papers, and the annual Caring for the Human Spirit® Conference, HCCN’s outreach and advocacy is now felt throughout the field of chaplaincy, nationally and internationally. For more information, visit www.healthcarechaplaincy.org, call 212-644-1111, follow us on Twitter or connect with us on Facebook.
The Spiritual Care Association (SCA) was formed to standardize the fragmented field of professional chaplaincy training by providing resources, education, and certification backed by evidence-based practice and indicators of quality care. The ensuing development of Common Standards and Quality Indicators in spiritual care ensure that the skills and performance of SCA-trained chaplains and spiritual caregivers can be measured objectively, which is of vital importance to hiring managers in all health care settings. In addition, new methods for training and credentialing have been developed for several non-chaplain health care groups, including first responders, physicians, nurses, social workers, palliative care and hospice workers, and volunteers. The SCA’s Learning Center is the most extensive and most successful online chaplain education program worldwide, and the Spiritual Care Resources app is the first online application that gives mobile access to the latest information on best practices in spiritual care for chaplains working in health care, hospice and palliative care, and first responder settings. Visit www.SpiritualCareAssociation.org, call 212-644-1111, follow on Twitter or connect on Facebook.
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