Advance Care Planning Program
A serious illness or condition can be devastating and extremely stressful for a person, their family, and their caregivers. No one should have to go through this alone. With our Advance Care Planning Program, your eligible1 Florida Blue patients will get the care they need while their families and caregivers also receive support. We collaborate with providers about their patients’ state of health throughout their illness or condition with special programs to support these difficult times.
Palliative Care Delivery:
Our palliative care delivery providers and care managers offer ethical, compassionate care for the patient. Our care delivery providers also provide support for your patient’s family and caregivers. Physical symptom management, spiritual, cultural, environmental, and social factors are considered for their care. A physician from one of our palliative care delivery providers will be assigned to your patient. They will contact you to collaborate in the management of your patient’s care. When appropriate, members will receive help with the transition to hospice care.
1 To be eligible for both components of the Advance Care Planning Program, Living Well and Palliative Care Delivery, a member must be enrolled in a commercial fully insured plan (all lines of business: Individual Under 65, Small, Mid or Large Group)
2 Members enrolled in a commercial fully insured plan or Medicare Advantage plan may be eligible for our Living Well component of the program offered through Vital Decisions.
Advance Directives
Florida Blue is required by federal regulations to provide certain information to Medicare Advantage members about advance directives in the state of Florida. Under Florida law, a person has the right to decide the type, amount, and duration of the medical care he or she receives. A member also has the right to appoint a representative to facilitate care or treatment decisions, including decisions about withholding resuscitative services or withdrawing life sustaining treatment, when the member is unable to do so. Florida Blue recognizes the right of each member to make health care treatment decisions according to his or her personal beliefs. Each member has a right to decide whether to execute an advance directive to guide treatment decisions in the event the member becomes unable to do so. Florida Blue respects and will not interfere with a member’s decision in accordance with Florida’s laws. It is the member’s responsibility to provide notification to his or her physician that an advance directive exists.
Members may obtain information about advance directives from the following sources:
• Physicians or health care workers
• Hospitals or skilled nursing facilities, and/or
• The AHCA website
The Advance Directive – A Living Will Forms is available for providers to give to their patients. This form can help patients share their life planning and care decisions with family, friends, and health care providers. Members may contact AHCA at the address below if they wish to submit a complaint about non-compliance with advance directive requirements:
Florida Agency for Health Care Administration
Bureau of Managed Care
2727 Mahan Drive
Mail Stop 26, Bldg. 1, Room 333A
Tallahassee, FL 32308
Phone: (888) 419-3456
TDD (800) 955-8771
Patient Health Literacy
Some of your patients may be among the millions of people in the United States whose health may be at risk because of difficulty in understanding and acting on health information. Health literacy is the ability to read, understand, and effectively use basic medical instructions and information. Low health literacy can affect anyone of any age, ethnicity, and background or education level.
People with low health literacy:
You may not even know that these patients are in your practice because:
• They will not admit they have difficulty understanding health information and instructions.
• They use coping mechanisms that effectively mask their problem.
What you can do to improve health literacy:
• Connect with the Partnership for Clear Health Communication at the National Patient Safety Foundation – a coalition of organizations working together to promote awareness and solutions around the issue of low health literacy and its effect on safe care and health outcomes.
• Ask Me 3® is an educational program that encourages patients and families to ask three specific questions of their providers to better understand their health conditions and what they need to do to stay healthy. Visit the Institute for Healthcare Improvement at https://www.ihi.org/library/tools/ask-me-3-good-questions-your-good-health for brochures to post in your waiting and exam rooms and for distributing to your patients.
Provider Materials & Resources
FBC PROVIDER NF