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How Patient and Family-Centered Care Developed

Program: Patient and Family Centered Care: Addressing Family and Patient Needs When a Loved One is Hospitalized
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Andrew Schorr:

Cezanne, Brandelyn is passionate about it as a parent and as a healthcare consumer. You are passionate about it as a master's in public health, and you know this is the right thing for healthcare, but sometimes it's difficult. You have many nurses and doctors and other staff who have been there 20 years, maybe some 30 years. This wasn't the way it had been anywhere, so how are you getting that change to happen?

Ms. Garcia:

Great question. The work really does begin, in our case we started small. It's a journey, if you will, where we started up with four councils, and as I mentioned earlier some of our advisors are very actively involved not only in the hiring of staff in those areas but also in their orientation. I am very excited in fact this Monday we are going to start to be part of every new employee orientation program, having a patient or family advisor come and join with a staff member and talk about what patient and family centered care is and means at the University of Washington Medical Center.

Furthermore, we have one area that in fact is redesigning all of their job descriptions, this is in our rehab services area, so that patient and family centered care is front and center to every part and aspect of their care. Yes, we are thrilled and delighted, as you mentioned, with our recognition in US News and World Report of being number 11 for the technical competency of our care, but equally important is that we are very compassionate in that care experience as well. And that's where our patients and families have just come to help us really understand from their perspective what that looks like. So once again through their eyes rather than through our own professional assumptions we are hearing what that means for them.

Andrew Schorr:

We have a lot more to talk about of course, and we have talked about patients and family members being involved before related to safety, which is a big issue, and we have talked about previously studies that have said maybe 100,000 people die in a year with drug errors and mistakes and how families can help prevent that too. But this is bigger than that even, and we are going to talk about that as we continue on Patient Power. Stay with us live on AM 570 KVI, Patient Power.

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