Vital Decisions LLC
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Vital Decisions Living Well Program for Individuals with Advanced Illness Receives Award at the 2010 Annual Assembly of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine
MILLBURN, NJ – (BUSINESS WIRE) –
Vital Decisions, the nation’s leading provider of patient centered behavioral health programs for individuals with advanced illness, received the Best Poster Award in the Program Evaluation Category at the 2010 Annual Assembly of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM). The award recognizes the program that demonstrated the best originality, methods, clarity, usefulness, and applicability in the area of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.
The analysis, which describes the impact of the Living Well program on patient satisfaction and patient driven hospice utilization, was performed by Dr. Jessica Zitter, Medical Director of Vital Decisions and an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Palliative Care Service at the University of California San Francisco. The results demonstrated that individuals with advanced illness who participated in the Living Well Program had a high level of appreciation and satisfaction with the program and self reported a high level of perceived effectiveness across a number of dimensions crucial for high quality care decision making. In addition, 46% of program participants utilized hospice services for an average of 37 days during their advanced illness.
“The findings presented at AAHPM are consistent with the results we have observed with the 6,000 individuals we have engaged on behalf of our regional and national health care plan clients. The success of the Living Well Program is the result of our years of investment and development in our proprietary, behavior change based, counseling methodology. Most importantly, we are able to positively impact individuals and their families to a remarkable degree during this difficult time in their lives. We are fortunate to have a set of innovative and caring health care plans as clients who make it possible to reach and provide the program to these families”, commented Mitchell Daitz, CEO of Vital Decisions.
For additional information regarding the Vital Decisions Living Well Program for Individuals with Advanced Illness or for details regarding the AAHPM poster presentation, please contact Steven Gawronski, VP of Account Management at sgawronski@vitaldecisions.net or by telephone at 585.377.2843. You can also visit us on the web at www.vitaldecisions.net.
About Vital Decisions
Vital Decisions is the leader in providing health care counseling services to individuals and their families who are facing serious medical situations. Their proprietary counseling methodology, called the Living Well Program, enables patients to become more active participants in identifying, communicating and incorporating their individual preferences and priorities into current and future decisions about their care.
Contact:
Steven Gawronski, V.P. Vital Decisions, LLC
Direct: 585-377-2843
Email: sgawronski@vitaldecisions.net