Tennessee Advance Directives Initiative

An Advance Directive is… a written statement of a person's wishes regarding medical treatment, made to ensure those wishes are carried out should the person be unable to communicate them to a doctor.

Absent an advance directive, providers are obligated to keep a patient alive with any means possible. Regardless of consequences. Regardless how poor the quality of life of the patient. Regardless of cost. Regardless of the burden on the patient’s family.

Less than half of Americans over 50 have an advance directive or living will.

In Tennessee that number is significantly lower In Tennessee that number is significantly lower. Less than one third of adult Tennesseans say they have an advance directive.   Approximately 86 percent of Tennesseans over 65 believe they have an advance directive of some kind.   Approximately 82 percent of Tennesseans ages 18-29 do not have an advance directive.   Among core working-age Tennesseans (ages 30 to 65), 45 percent say they do not have an advance directive. -Source: 2016 Tennessee Advance Directives Initiative research

Tennessee Advance Directives Initiative Formed late 2015 Research and Planning 2016 Targeted Public Launch early 2017

Tennessee Advance Directives Initiative

The purpose of the Tennessee Advance Directives Initiative is to encourage Tennesseans to discuss health care decisions, document their choices and enjoy greater peace of mind and quality of life as a result.

Advance Directives are more important than ever because of many factors… Today’s growing and aging population lives longer. Chances of chronic illnesses like dimentia are greater. We live in a mobile and global world where young adults tend to settle farther away from their families. Many families have concluded that longer lives don’t necessarily mean “quality” lives. Healthcare resources are precious and limited.

Healthcare Cost Burden One out of every four Medicare dollars--$125 billion--covers care for people near the very end of their life. 30% of Medicare expenditures are attributed to the 5% of beneficiaries who die each year. 1/3 of those costs--over $12 billion--are incurred in the last month of life. -Sources: Time and Forbes

Family Burden Out-of-pocket expenses for individuals and their families over the last five years of their lives average $39,000 ($66,000 for people with long-term illnesses like Alzheimer’s). -Sources: Time and Forbes

Quality of Life The average hospital stay for patients without advance directives is three times greater than those who have an advance directive. -Source: Medicare Patient Study (Chambers, Diamond, Perkel)

Employer Benefit 80% of companies surveyed say addressing end-of-life issues with their employees is important because it helps to reduce employee absenteeism and increase productivity. -Source: AgingWithDignity.org, Five Wishes

A Valuable Employee Benefit Tennesseans of working age believe their health insurance provider, their insurance agent and their employers’ Human Resources departments could be a good source of information about end-of-life-planning and Advance Directives. -Source: Tennessee Advance Directive Initiative, Focus Groups, Spring 2016.

Maybe it’s time to encourage your team to ”Change their Story.”

During your health benefits renewal process, ask your employees if they have an advance directive.

If they have an advance directive, encourage them to review it and make any needed changes.

If they don’t have an advance directive, encourage them to go to www If they don’t have an advance directive, encourage them to go to www.advancedirectivesTN.org and create one.

This just might be the best employee benefit you can offer to those who are most important to your success.

Please, no more excuses.