As Patient and Family Centered Care (PFCC) month comes to a close, it is a good time to look back at what PFCC is and how patients and families can help organizations achieve a PFCC environment. The Institute for Patient and Family Centered Care defines PFCC as ”an approach to the planning, delivery, and evaluation of health care that is grounded in mutually beneficial partnerships among health care providers, patients, and families.”
PFCC includes four key patient care concepts:
- Respect and Dignity – listen to and honor patient/family choices and perspectives, including their knowledge, values, beliefs, and cultural backgrounds
- Information Sharing – communicating unbiased information at the time and level that patients/families are able to use in order to make a well-informed decision
- Participation – patients/families are encouraged to actively participate in their health care at the level they choose
- Collaboration – health care leaders include patients/families in various decision areas, including facility design, professional education, policy/program development and implementation
The Institute provides several resources and tools for implementing PFCC in a hospital system, including a ”Getting Started” guide.
On a national level, the 2001 Institute of Medicine Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century book increased awareness of Patient Centered Care (PCC) as one of the six aims listed within the book. Yet, many hospitals continue to struggle with successfully implementing this aim. How can organizations utilize patients and families to help them obtain true PCC? Through a combination of PCC and PFCC concepts resulting in an increased focus on collaboration.
One of the eight steps provided in the Institute’s guide is the participation of Patient/Family Advisors in committees and task forces. They may also be visible on Patient/Family Advisory Councils, patients serving as committee members, or through online patient panels. All of these methods provide organizations with additional mechanism for receiving feedback from patients and families and the ability to collaborate with them on changes, policies, services, and more. PFCC truly focuses on the needs of patients/families and who better to help guide this journey than patients/families themselves?
Creating a successful Patient/Family Advisor program can be challenging in public hospital systems. The larger the system, the more often obstacles occur. Starting with one patient on a hospital committee may be the easiest first step for an organization, while another may find creating a Patient/Family Advisory Council helps move PFCC forward. In Massachusetts, hospitals were gently started on this journey through a state mandate requiring the creation of Advisory Councils in all hospitals. In academic hospitals, researchers are noticing a new requirement for patient participation in grant proposals for PCORI (Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute). Most organizations find forming a steering committee or task force, which includes Advisors, will help them begin creating what works best for their system.
From a national level of patient engagement, to the local level of Patient/Family Advisors, listening to feedback and suggestions from patients and families is coming more popular. In closing, each hospital should consider their culture and environment before they begin this journey. It is a long road that will take several twists and turns, perhaps even a detour, before finding success. While there is no easy answer, or right way to begin, forming collaborative partnerships with Advisors will help ensure the end goal of meeting patient/family needs is met. Join America’s Essential Hospitals in 2014 as they provide a series of webinars with Bev Johnson, president and CEO of the Institute of Patient and Family Centered Care, and your member colleagues who have already begun this essential work.
Best wishes on your journey!
Additional resource on levels of patient engagement: Health Affairs – New Era of Patient Engagement
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