More hospices are expanding their advance care planning services as they ramp up participation in value-based payment programs such as Medicare Advantage, direct contracting and participation in Accountable Care Organizations. Several value-based models incorporate advance care planning, which is associated with reductions in the total cost of care and improvements in overall hospice utilization rates. […]
Vynca saw record growth during 2020, having generated more than 1.16 million end-of-life planning documents that year, up 64% from the previous 12 months. Advance care plans are a key tool in ensuring that patient choices are known and honored during the course of their serious or terminal illnesses. Often, the hard copy documents are […]
The year 2020 brought unprecedented disruption to the hospice space, mostly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The outbreak strained providers ability to provide care, access patients in homes and facilities and to maintain a healthy bottom line in light of lost revenues and rising costs. Despite these challenges and economic headwinds, hospices adapted, improvised and […]
Advance care planning solutions company Vynca has entered into a partnership with health care technology provider Cerner Corp. (NASDAQ: CERN) in which the companies will integrate goals of care documents with electronic health records (EHR). Making advance care plans available via EHRs can help ensure goal concordant care for patients as well as boost hospice […]
Hospices, other providers, payers, as well as state and federal agencies are increasingly recognizing the importance of advance care planning to ensure goal-concordant care and reduce health care costs. Barriers in existing public policy are limiting the growth of these services, along with increased strains brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, according to some stakeholders. […]
Ryan Van Wert, M.D. is co-founder and CEO of Vynca, a technology company that offers solutions to health care organizations to support person-centered care by ensuring that patient preferences are captured, accessible and honored. In addition to his role at Vynca, Van Wert is a part-time clinical assistant professor at Stanford University. In observance of National […]
Despite the uncertainties brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, advance care planning remains critical. With death tolls and confirmed cases rising, advance care planning is increasingly vital, particularly for high-risk patient populations receiving hospice and palliative care. Severe illness and possible death are among the risks posed by the novel coronavirus, according to the U.S. […]
The Louisiana Health Care Quality Forum is partnering with California-based advance care planning technology firm Vynca and the Ochsner health system to implement a statewide registry for the bayou state’s Physician Orders for Scope of Treatment (LaPost) forms and advance directives. LaPOST documents contain advance directives, patient wishes and goals for end-of-life care and often […]
Physician and entrepreneur Ryan Van Wert, M.D., co-founded Palo Alto, Calif.-based advance care planning solution developer Vynca in 2013 to create tech products to guide and document advance care planning discussions that would be easily accessible to necessary stakeholders, including patients, families and clinicians. Van Wert is also an assistant professor at Stanford University where he […]
Companies are springing up nationwide offering products and services to support advance care planning, signaling that a new industry is joining forces with health care to ensure that patients receive goal-concordant care. Many of these companies offer technological solutions or frameworks to guide difficult conversations about end-of-life care and surragate decision makers should a patient […]
