Purpose of the Serious Illness Training
The SI training provides clinicians with the foundational knowledge, skills and confidence to engage in serious illness conversations with individuals who have a life limiting condition. The purpose of the SI conversation is to elicit an individual’s goals, values and preferences for care and once known, facilitate a plan of care that aligns with those stated values, goals and preferences.
Research has demonstrated that engaging in Serious Illness conversations can improve patient and family satisfaction, reduce provider burnout and reduce non-clinically beneficial services.
Implications for Case Management Practice:
Case managers often lack the formal or informal education about engaging in conversations with patients living with an SI(s), regarding their goals of care and advanced care planning. They may be limited exposure to the latest generation of screening tools that assess the cultural context of patient and caregiver psychosocial needs encompassing behavioral health symptoms and conditions, caregiver burden, cultural competence, health-related social needs, Techquity, and digital health literacy. Such education is essential to attaining successful patient outcomes, particularly as SI conversations are within the case managers’ role and responsibility.
Establishing a protocol for case managers to follow is essential, including identifying patients appropriate for an SI conversation, conducting an SI conversation, and documenting information from the SI conversation in the electronic medical record.
Conducting SI conversations with appropriately identified patients and their caregivers is expected to result in the establishment of a plan of care consistent with patient preferences.
Training Objectives
The training, using evidence-based care approaches, prepares healthcare professionals to assist and advocate for patients with serious illness conditions. The goal is to ensure a wholistic patient-centered approach is in place. The training will review and include:
1. Criteria to identifying patients who would benefit from serious illness conversations and management.
2. Approaches to broach, identify, and honor the patient’s wishes and values should their condition worsen.
3. Building on skills covered in self-management care, to include use of motivational interviewing and creating a plan of care that aligns with the patient’s wishes, and supports their biomedical and psychosocial status and needs.
Identify billing and benefits available when providing serious illness, palliative care services and hospice care.
4. Screening and assessment tools specific to behavioral health symptoms and conditions, caregiver burden, cultural awareness, digital health literacy, health-related social needs and other social determinants of health.
5. Through simulation, practice and identify areas of strength and opportunity with the intent of building confidence in conducting a serious illness conversation, completing a self-evaluation to include a plan for applying the skills, and having a 1:1 feedback session with an evaluator.
Mi-CCSI has been contracted by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan as the training entity for this project.
This training is funded through BCBSM Palliative Initiative and is free to participants. Registration is open to all physician organizations.
Registration is open to all physician organizations. Please see costs.
Registering will direct you to Mi-CCSI's website to login or create an account.