Honoring Choices Wisconsin (HCW) is an initiative of the Wisconsin Medical Society (Society) to build system change, advocacy and education around advance care planning. Through HCW, the Society is serving as convener, coordinator and catalyst to make advance care planning a routine and standard part of care across Wisconsin.The Wisconsin Medical Society:

• Advocates for advance care planning as a process of understanding, reflecting on and discussing future medical decisions, including end-of-life preferences.
• Serves as convener, coordinator, and catalyst to make advance care planning a routine and standard part of care across the state.
• Coordinates education and support with Respecting Choices to create a forum in which to share information.

With your help, we can improve advance care planning for patients, families, friends, providers and communities across Wisconsin. For more information, email us at hcw@wismed.org.

Clinical training and guidance

HCW has partnered with Respecting Choices® First Steps® Prime Affinity (RC) to train participating health care organizations to build strong advance care planning systems. More than just training facilitators, RC will assist organizations in ensuring that conversations are offered routinely, scheduled, conducted, documented and entered consistently in the medical record. Participants begin with a small-scale, six-month trial implementation, and use the lessons learned to expand across the organization. The concepts, methodologies, training systems and materials are those of the Respecting Choices® First Steps® model. Respecting Choices is a pioneering program in advance care planning based in La Crosse.

Collaboration in the health care system

By agreeing to collaborate and not compete around this model, clinical sites and communities enjoy greater benefits and avoid duplicating work to improve advance care planning. As convener, the Society along with RC provides a platform for teams and stakeholders to share lessons and information, address challenges and share successes.

Physician engagement

Physicians are essential to effective advance care planning. Their trusted encouragement normalizes these difficult conversations, and their leadership is required for success in the health care setting. As the voice of medicine in Wisconsin, the Society works closely with physicians and provides them tools, along with continuing medical education, to successfully engage their patients in advance care planning.

Common language, documentation and patient materials

The language around advance care planning is often confusing and undefined. HCW’s Glossary is contributing to the standardization of the vocabulary across Wisconsin. HCW participants use a common advance directive and patient education materials, providing standard messaging on advance care planning.

Measuring success

HCW routinely collects data on the number of conversations offered, scheduled and conducted by its participants. We also measure patient and agent satisfaction with conversations and facilitator competence and confidence. In the long term, we expect significant changes in the number of Wisconsinites with advance care plans and documents, greater adherence to patient wishes in medical crises and at end of life, and greater satisfaction among patients and their families as they navigate these difficult situations.

Contact information

Honoring Choices Wisconsin
Wisconsin Medical Society
2450 Rimrock Road, Suite 101
Madison, WI 53713
Main Phone: 866.442.3800 (toll-free)

Click here to email us.