Three University of California medical centers, including UCLA and UC Irvine Health, were awarded $8 million for a project to develop more effective approaches in advance care planning for seriously ill patients in primary care clinics, it was announced Monday.
UCSF Health will also share in the five-year award, which is one of only seven granted nationally by the nonprofit Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, according to UC officials.
“We are looking for the most effective way of helping patients complete an advance directive, a legal document that spells out their decisions and preferences for medical care,” said Neil Wenger, a professor of medicine at UCLA and the project’s principal investigator. “This ensures that cutting-edge treatment and therapies will be applied as the patient wishes, with the planning itself often alleviating the stress on loved ones.”
The three UC medical centers will implement and evaluate three advance care planning approaches with the goal of eventually using them in primary care clinics across the nation among people with advanced cancer, heart failure, lung disease and other conditions.
“This demonstrates what can happen when several of our campuses work together to create something in which the total is greater than the sum of the individual contributions,” said John D. Stobo, executive vice president of UC Health. “Conducting this trial will allow us to leverage clinical expertise and advanced technologies for the benefit of patients, who rightfully expect that we precisely target the most advanced medical treatments to meet their health goals and improve their quality of life.”