4Step iCare Plan
Conversation Assistant
4Step iCare Plan
Conversation Assistant
Leading the Conversation
You are in a unique position to help patients and families identify the most appropriate care that is aligned with their wishes. By establishing a treatment plan that reflects the individual’s values and preferences, you ensure patients receive the care they need and no less, and the care they want and no more.
UNDERSTAND
Diagnosis
DISCUSS
Prognosis
IDENTIFY
Goals of Care
ALIGN
Treatment
Helping to Determine What’s Best
Our 4Step iCare Plan helps you engage your patients in a conversation about challenging medical decisions. It requires participation from you and the patient or family decision-maker.
The objective is to help your patient identify his or her goals of care and to align a treatment plan that genuinely reflects those individual preferences so that patients get the care they need and no more and the care they want and no less.
The traditional 2-step approach to making medical decisions (diagnosis and treatment) is of course used for less serious medical conditions. Patients with advanced illness will benefit from the more detailed 4-Step ACP model. This methodology adds two important steps between the diagnosis and treatment—these are prognosis and goals of care.
The 4-Steps in Practice
First, it’s important to make sure that a patient and their family clearly understand the diagnosis. It is then critical to share the prognosis and your expertise about what to expect for the course of the disease and the chances for recovery. An accurate prognosis will help patients determine their wishes. These goals may range from treatment by all means necessary to shorter term goals such as living long enough for a particular event (such as the birth of a child or a holiday) to comfort measures such as hospice. These goals of care along with your explanation as to what to expect will help determine the types of treatment a patient does or does not want to receive.
The 4Step iCare Plan HCP Conversation Assistant helps you engage your patients in a conversation about challenging medical decisions. It requires participation from both you and your patient or family decision-maker.
Spiritual Care Providers
GOCCNJ recognizes that spiritual care providers (SCPs) are often sought when people are confronting significant healthcare decisions. Chaplains and clergy are uniquely positioned to help patients with serious illness consider medical decisions within a religious or spiritual framework and are a valued member of the interdisciplinary care team.
GOCCNJ developed the 4Step iCare Plan for SCPs with Chaplain Ted Taylor, Director of Chaplaincy & Volunteer Services at RWJBarnabas Health and College of Pastoral Supervision & Psychotherapy; Rev. Maureen Erwin, Board-Certified Clinical Chaplain focused on palliative care, end-of-life conversations, and advance care planning; and Gina Mercurio-Brown, MDiv and healthcare chaplain, specifically to help patients understand their diagnosis, process their prognosis, reflect on and communicate their goals for living, and choose medical treatments that best align with their goals of care.
Share With Your Patients
The 4Step iCare Plan & Video Series will guide your patients and their families through the process of making medical decisions and provides an introduction to the 4Step iCare Plan.