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April 16, 2010
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.
Sponsored by the
Innovation Center at Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC and The AMD3 Foundation
Advisory Council
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