Patient-centered care is an approach to care that has been variously defined and redefined for more than 25 years For example, The Picker-Commonwealth Program for Patient-Centered Care defined patient-centered care as having seven dimensions, including respect for patients’ values, preferences and expressed needs; coordination and integration of care; information, communication and education; physical comfort; emotional support and alleviation of fear and anxiety; involvement of friends and family; and transition and continuity. The Institute of Medicine (IOM), in its 2001 report, Crossing the Quality Chasm, defined patient-centered care as “care that is respectful and responsive to individual patient preferences, needs and values, and ensuring that patient values guide all clinical decisions.” Donald Berwick, M.D., President and CEO of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), has defined patient-centered care as care that follows three maxims: 1) “The needs of the patient come first;” 2) “Nothing about me without me;” 3) “Every patient is the only patient.” In addition, Berwick defines patient-centered care in which the “physician tries to enter the patient’s world, to see the illness through the patient’s eyes.”

If definitions of patient-centered care abound, so do behaviors that organizations consider patient centered. These include actively involving the patient, family and, friends in a patient’s care, as well as integrating spirituality, nutrition, touch, the healing arts, music, and healing environments in care.

We believe that Patient and Family Centered Care (PFCC) is a practice that is greater than the sum of its parts and that until now there has been no methodology to ensure patient-centered care is delivered anywhere in an organization, for every patient and family member, every time, all the time. Our PFCC Methodology and Practice will transform the care experience of patients and families; it will also change the behavior of all Care Givers, creating a PFCC culture. In such a culture, it is second nature to continually seek ways to improve the care experience for patients and families. To find out more about the PFCC Methodology and Practice read the Go Guide – Transform Care in Six Steps The Patient- and Family-Centered Care Methodology.