Respecting Choices

What Respecting Choices does

Respecting Choices is a US-based non-profit organization headquartered in Oregon, Wisconsin, that has developed an evidence-based system for person-centered decision making in healthcare, with a primary focus on Advance Care Planning (ACP). Founded in 1985 by Bud Hammes and launched as a national platform in 1999, the organization commercializes a three-stage ACP methodology — First Steps® (healthy individuals), Next Steps™ (serious illness with complications), and Advanced Steps (last years of life) — alongside a Shared Decision Making in Serious Illness (SDMSI) curriculum for physicians. The portfolio includes three tiers of competency-based certification (Facilitator, Instructor, Faculty), six interactive online learning modules, nationally certified Decision Aids (CPR, Help with Breathing, Long-Term Tube Feeding), and patient-facing Making Choices Materials, all distributed through an LMS (learnrc.org) and online retail store (respectingchoices.dcopy.net).

The organization's core technology is a stage-based facilitation framework rather than a software platform; the digital infrastructure (LMS, e-commerce store, online curriculum) supports content delivery and certification, while the substantive intellectual property is the methodology itself, validated through 34 peer-reviewed publications. The platform architecture integrates online curriculum with virtual facilitation tools and digital decision aids, but the differentiated asset is the clinical methodology and certification pyramid rather than proprietary software.

Respecting Choices generates revenue through five streams: annual population-based Materials Subscription Agreements (recurring, auto-renewing, priced by 60+ population in served counties with customization/co-branding tiers), online curriculum single and group purchases (transactional), Implementation Services (customized enterprise agreements with health systems and community organizations), Certification Course Fees (in-person and virtual classroom/webinar formats), and Decision Aids sales (hard copy or subscription). Go-to-market is consultative enterprise field sales combined with self-serve e-commerce: direct enterprise implementations target health systems, community-based organizations, palliative/hospice providers, and conveners, while individual learners and smaller groups purchase through the online store and register for national virtual/in-person courses. The organization reports 1,000+ certified Instructors, 330 US medical centers involved in implementations, and a presence in 45 US states and 12 countries, with Gundersen Health System as a foundational clinical laboratory partner.

Name

Respecting Choices

Legal name

Respecting Choices

Website

https://respectingchoices.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1985

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Respecting Choices is a US non-profit that licenses an evidence-based, staged Advance Care Planning (ACP) system to health systems, community organizations, and palliative care providers. It generates revenue through certification programs, subscription-licensed patient materials, decision aids, online curriculum sales, and customized enterprise implementation services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Advance Care Planning Education and Certification

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment & Care Planning (HLADALAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Benefits, Insurance & Long-Term Care Planning Navigation (Medicare/Medicaid/LTC) (HLADALAI), Care Management & Population Health Program Administration (HLAEALAG)

Keywords

• Advance care planning
• Person-centered decision making
• ACP facilitator certification
• Shared decision making
• Healthcare curriculum licensing

Headquarters

HQ city

Oregon

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Materials Subscription Agreements: Organizations can license Making Choices Materials and Decision Aids through annual subscription agreements. Pricing is based on population age 60+ served in the organization's counties. Electronic versions are provided with customization and co-branding options. Auto-renews yearly on anniversary date.
2. Online Curriculum Sales: Single purchases of online modules for individual learners, and group purchases for organizations of 2+ learners through the online store. Includes immediate access to curriculum content.
3. Implementation Services: Customized implementation packages for organizations including strategic planning, consultation, education, and certification programs. Provided through implementation agreements with health systems and community organizations.
4. Certification Course Fees: Fees for ACP Facilitator, Instructor, and Faculty certification courses including ACP Core Component courses, First Steps, Next Steps, and Advanced Steps certification programs. Available as in-person classroom learning or live virtual webinar formats.
5. Decision Aids Sales: Nationally certified decision aids available for purchase in hard copy format or through subscription. CPR, Help with Breathing, and Long-Term Tube Feeding decision aids are available.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Respecting Choices designs and licenses an evidence-based, person-centered advance care planning (ACP) system that helps organizations and communities ensure individuals' healthcare preferences are known and honored. Its portfolio includes three staged ACP curricula (First Steps®, Next Steps™, Advanced Steps), the Shared Decision Making in Serious Illness (SDMSI) curriculum, Facilitator/Instructor/Faculty certification programs, online learning modules, certified Decision Aids, Making Choices patient education materials, and Implementation and Consultation Services for health systems, community-based organizations, palliative and hospice providers, and conveners.

Product overview

Respecting Choices is a comprehensive, evidence-based system for person-centered decision making that transforms healthcare. The organization offers a multi-modal implementation strategy centered around three ACP stages—First Steps® ACP (for healthy individuals or those with early chronic illness), Next Steps™ ACP (for those with serious illness experiencing complications), and Advanced Steps ACP (for individuals in their last years of life)—plus the Shared Decision Making in Serious Illness (SDMSI) curriculum for physicians. The portfolio includes certification programs at multiple levels (Facilitator, Instructor, and Faculty), online learning modules, nationally certified Decision Aids, and patient education materials (Making Choices Materials). Implementation and consultation services support organizational transformation, while a dedicated LMS and online retail store enable delivery and distribution. COVID-19 Proactive Care Planning Resources were added as specialized offerings. Together, these products form a cohesive system designed to ensure individuals' healthcare preferences are known and honored across all stages of health.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• First Steps® ACP Advance care planning program for healthy individuals or those with early chronic illness; helps plan for future healthcare decisions in case of sudden events, motivates patients to plan, guides selection of a qualified healthcare agent, and supports completion of a basic advance directive document.
• Next Steps™ ACP Advance care planning program for individuals with serious illness who are experiencing complications requiring complex decision making; assesses understanding of disease progression, identifies goals of care, and uses a Statement of Treatment Preferences (SoTP) form.
• Advanced Steps ACP Advance care planning program for individuals in their last few years of life or with advanced serious illness and frailty; focuses on proactive treatment discussions resulting in POLST forms aligned with individual goals, values, and preferences.
• Shared Decision Making in Serious Illness (SDMSI) Curriculum for physicians and advanced practitioners that teaches communication skills for shared decision-making conversations, helping align care and treatment with what matters most to patients through discussion, video examples, and role-play using a semi-structured conversation guide.
• ACP Facilitator Certification Competency-based certification program for advance care planning facilitators at First Steps, Next Steps, and Advanced Steps stages; includes online curriculum, ACP Core Component course, and intensive in-person or virtual certification courses to ensure consistent and reliable ACP service delivery.
• ACP Instructor Certification Professional certification program that qualifies healthcare educators, nurses, physicians, community leaders, social workers, and chaplains to replicate ACP Facilitator Certification courses inside their own organizations or communities.
• ACP/SDMSI Faculty Certification Fellowship-like mentorship and certification program that develops expert leaders to lead First Steps, Next Steps, Advanced Steps, and/or SDMSI implementation and dissemination within healthcare systems or geographic communities.
• Online ACP Facilitator Curriculum Series of six interactive distance-learning online modules teaching ACP facilitation skills across First Steps, Next Steps, and Advanced Steps; includes narration, recommended supplemental reading, interactive activities, case examples, post-tests, and course evaluations.
• Building Physician Skills in Basic ACP Three-module online curriculum for physicians and advanced practitioners that builds person-centered ACP skills, covering ACP integration, billing, motivational strategies to engage patients, documenting conversations, and strategies for integrating ACP into routine patient care, with downloadable tools.
• Decision Aids Nationally certified tools designed to help patients with serious illness participate in making specific, deliberate choices among healthcare options, including CPR, Help with Breathing, and Long-Term Tube Feeding decision aids.
• Making Choices Materials Comprehensive selection of engagement and education materials including ACP Planning Guides, Role of the Healthcare Agent Cards, and Fact Sheets (CPR, Help with Breathing, Artificial Nutrition) for individuals, healthcare agents, and others; available in hard copy or licensed through a Materials Subscription Agreement.
• Implementation Services Organizational implementation packages for all three ACP stages (First Steps, Next Steps, Advanced Steps) and SDMSI, including multi-modal implementation strategy, long-term strategic planning support, and customizable services for health systems and conveners.
• Consultation Services Implementation consultation services provided by Respecting Choices to support organizational and cultural change toward person-centered healthcare, integral to all implementation engagements.
• Respecting Choices® Learning Management System (LMS) Learning management system at learnrc.org for delivering online courses, managing course enrollments, and providing LMS technical support for single seat purchases and national course registrations.
• Online Store (DigiCopy) Retail store at respectingchoices.dcopy.net for purchasing hard copy materials, decision aids, online curriculum seats, and managing retail product orders and multi-seat purchases.

Quantifiable outcome

• 1,000+ Certified RC Instructors trained and deployed across healthcare systems
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Gundersen Health SystemcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing partnership with Gundersen Health System in La Crosse, Wisconsin, serving as the clinical laboratory for testing and improving Respecting Choices materials and programs. This partnership has been fundamental to the development and validation of the RC evidence-based approach.
• NCOA (National Council on Aging)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership supporting Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) to use Older Americans Act funds for implementing Respecting Choices programs, enabling delivery of advance care planning services in communities across the country.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• The Conversation Project: Founded by Ellen Goodman, The Conversation Project is a non-profit initiative dedicated to helping people talk about their wishes for end-of-life care. It is directly comparable to Respecting Choices as an evidence/awareness-driven ACP conversation program serving consumers and healthcare organizations.
• Vital Decisions: Vital Decisions is a private company providing telephone-based ACP facilitation and shared decision-making services to patients with serious illness. It is a direct competitor in the ACP facilitation services space, particularly in partnership with health plans and hospitals.
• PREPARE for Your Care (UCSF): PREPARE is an evidence-based ACP program developed at UCSF that provides online tools and easy-to-read advance directives in multiple languages. It is directly comparable as an evidence-based, multi-format advance care planning program targeting both individuals and clinicians.
• Aging with Dignity (Five Wishes): Aging with Dignity is a non-profit distributing the Five Wishes advance directive document and related educational tools. It is directly comparable to Respecting Choices as a non-profit ACP program provider targeting both consumers and health systems with advance directive/ACP materials.

Emerging players

• Vynca: Vynca provides technology-enabled advance care planning solutions, including ePOLST and EHR-integrated ACP workflows. It is comparable as a digitally focused ACP platform serving health systems and patients, often in serious-illness and palliative care settings.
• WiserCare: WiserCare offers a digital shared decision-making and advance care planning platform combining patient-facing tools with clinician support. It is comparable as a digital ACP player and is now a strategic partner of Respecting Choices, making it a partial collaborator/competitor.
• Koda Health: Koda Health is a digital ACP platform offering online advance directives, healthcare agent selection, and clinician-facing workflows. It is comparable as an emerging digital competitor targeting health plans and providers seeking self-serve ACP delivery.
• Cake (end-of-life planning): Cake is a consumer-facing digital end-of-life planning platform offering online wills, advance directives, and legacy planning. It is comparable as an emerging consumer-direct ACP/end-of-life planning tool, competing at the entry point of the funnel.
• ADVault / MyDirectives: ADVault/MyDirectives is a digital advance care planning platform that stores and retrieves advance directives across the care continuum. It is comparable as a digital ACP infrastructure provider focused on document storage, retrieval, and interoperability with healthcare providers.

Regional players

• Honoring Choices Minnesota: Honoring Choices Minnesota is a regional collaborative that helps individuals and families in Minnesota create advance care plans. It is comparable as a regional ACP program with health-system partnerships and facilitator training, structurally similar to Respecting Choices but confined to a single state.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/RespectingChoices
• Xx.com/RespChoices
• Facebookfacebook.com/Respectingchoices

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Respecting Choices