This October, we shine a spotlight on Patient Centered Awareness in Healthcare. Planetree Incorporated coined the term “Patient Centered Care” almost forty years ago. It describes an approach organized around the needs of the patient and promotes relationships between patients, their families, and their healthcare teams. These relationships would nurture trust, transparency, collaboration and individualized care. As modern healthcare slowly turns from the traditionally patriarchal customs of the past, physicians are encouraged to be open and communicative with their patient rather than gate-keep knowledge on a need to know basis. This methodology has become particularly important in end of life proceedings and to family caretakers. Given the complexity of care necessary and the involvement of family, practices have begun to see positive outcomes from implemented patient-centric care models. As Susan Frampton, President of Planetree Inc remarked, “This level of engagement can’t simply be willed into existence. It has to be supported with tools and techniques that can help to transform healthcare interactions into more collaborative exchanges.”
Choosing the correct evidence-based solution for a healthcare team depends upon quality research and a measured approach to implementation. The Patient Care Connect Program (PCCP) uses non-clinical patient navigators to help educate patients about different health resources. The model seeks to empower patients to manage their own care while the Navigators work as intermediaries, connecting patients to providers and explaining health concepts to patients when appropriate. The CARE tack is a palliative care model that primarily assesses the patient comfort level and administers symptom management accordingly. When faced with late life cancer, this model proved to lower depression in patients from 38% to 16%. Early and concurrent palliative care also lowered healthcare costs by reducing the amount of inpatient care admissions and the frequency of intensive care unit utilization. Both of these models rely on the timely and thorough communication lines between a healthcare professional and the patient.
As patients begin to act more like consumers, healthcare providers must be agile in adapting their methodologies to match the renewal of patient interest. The Trauma Medical Home model, developed by Dr. Ben Zarzaur and Dr. Malaz Boustani tackles this demand for increased patient awareness and autonomy by providing a team to the patient. Consisting of a care coordinator, a trauma surgeon, an intensive care physician all working in conjunction with the primary care physician, elderly patients who suffer trauma find the support of experts creating a specialized plan for their circumstance. The Model necessitates a home visit to review the environment and identify alterable obstacles to recovery. Similarly, for the six months of care the team engages in with the patient through the recovery process, an emphasis is placed on transparent communication with the patient and family on the importance of any recommended recovery methods. Those who have enrolled within the program show an admission decrease and a better resistance to dementia related sicknesses because of trauma.
Whether your team is interested in any of the patient-centered care models described above, successful implementation will be your greatest challenge. With so many new methodologies failing to take hold in a medical environment, access to patient centered care depends upon the skills of a successful innovator to lead a team to lasting transformation. The Center for Health Innovation and Implementation Science challenges you to question what you know about successful Implementation and learn about our Agile Implementation Methodology to secure your efforts to make a lasting difference in your healthcare environment. Through our Agile Methodology bootcamps, short courses, graduate certificate and annual Thinkathon, CHIIS is transforming healthcare one team at a time. Take a moment to come and look at what we have to offer and become a Change Agent working towards Healthcare 2.0. Our medical environment is changing and we all must be agile to be part of a patient-centered future.
Visit our Education page to discover how you can learn Agile Implementation for yourself and apply it to your own team.
References: https://medicine.iu.edu/news/2017/05/collaborative-care-model-focuses-full-recovery/
https://patientengagementhit.com/news/patient-centered-care-models-enhance-end-of-life-cancer-care
https://revcycleintelligence.com/news/how-palliative-care-can-maximize-value-based-reimbursement
https://patientengagementhit.com/news/how-medstar-health-balances-consumer-and-patient-engagement
https://www.onco-nav.com/october-patient-centered-care-awareness-month/