Become an effective change-agent in health care. Whether your organization is in the early stages of implementing the practice of patient- and family-centered care, or further along in the journey, The 4th International Conference on Patient- and Family-Centered Care ~ Partnerships for Quality and Safety, August 17-19, 2009, Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, Philadelphia, PA, offers an exciting program that will guide, inspire, and motivate you! Select from more than 90 sessions that describe best practices in patient- and family-centered care and demonstrate how to apply patient- and family-centered care in multiple health care settings such as adult and pediatric inpatient and outpatient care, maternity care, newborn intensive care, emergency care, and others.

CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS:
The International Conference will highlight innovative and emerging best practices, encourage information sharing, and provide networking opportunities that advance the practice of patient- and family-centered care. Learn patient- and family-centered strategies for redesigning work, changing culture, implementing tried-and-true clinical processes, and enhancing partnerships among health care providers, patients, and families that yield improved outcomes. For more information, check out the Conference Program Brochure. 

Learn the value of true collaboration among patients, families, and health care providers to address these ever-increasing challenges:

• The expanding use of technology;
• The need for new facilities;
• The risk of medical error;
• Including families in rounds and change of shift report;
• Redesigning the primary care system;
• The increasing numbers of people living with chronic conditions;
• Transitions from youth to adult services; and
• The pressure to control costs.
  

The Institute is delighted to have the leadership support of The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and The University of Pennsylvania Health System for bringing this conference to Philadelphia. We are proud to partner with these exemplary organizations.

A limited number of participants will be able to tour The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia before the Conference on August 16. Tour participants will enjoy a networking reception before touring inpatient and outpatient areas, the Connelly Resource Center for Families, the Asplundh Welcome Center, and the Auto Dealers Caring for Kids Foundation Welcome Center.

Continuing education credits will be available for physicians, nurses, and social workers. Others will receive a Certificate of Attendance.

Early bird registration is available through June 15, 2009. Register Now.

Meet Pinwheel Sponsor Memorial Healthcare System (MHS), the fifth-largest public health care system in the country. MHS consists of Memorial Regional Hospital, Memorial Regional Hospital South, Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital, Memorial Hospital West, Memorial Hospital Miramar, Memorial Hospital Pembroke, Memorial Primary Care Centers, and numerous ancillary facilities.

On January 23, 2008, the Memorial Healthcare System took a significant step toward its vision of being a world-class model of safety, quality, service, and efficiency when its Board of Commissioners adopted a new Mission Statement:

The Memorial Healthcare System provides safe, quality, cost-effective, patient- and family-centered care regardless of one’s ability to pay, with the goal of improving the health of the community it serves.

Memorial’s administrators believe that patient- and family-centered care is critical to achieve optimal results and enhance the safety of patients and the quality of the health care they receive. They also know that this can only be accomplished by treating patients and their families as partners on the care team. Every decision is based on the best interests of patients and their families—equal partners in health care…….Read More

The Institute added a News Flash page to its website. Check out this new page to learn about timely events or happenings relevant to people interested in the delivery of patient- and family-centered care. Currently, the News Flash page features two events:

• This year’s American Academy on Communication in Healthcare (AACH) annual ENRICH (Enriching Relationships in Communication in Healthcare) course, Promoting Excellence: Relationship-Centered Care and Collaborative Communication is jointly sponsored by the College of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, and the American Academy on Communication in Healthcare, and will be June 23-27, 2009, at the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester, Minnesota.  
  

The course will focus on teaching communication and relationship skills on health care teams. For all members of the care team—including patients and families—improved communication and relationship skills can facilitate working together more effectively to deliver patient- and family-centered care.

• Members of the PFACnetwork, check out our new page: PFAC Resources and Materials, from Tools for Change. This new part of the Institute’s website is for the exclusive use of the PFACnetwork members to share and review documents—such as bylaws, forms, brochures, policies, job descriptions, and research—consistent with the principles of patient- and family-centered care. Such sharing of materials is intended to foster the development of best practices in all areas of patient- and family-centered care.

The PFACnetwork—Patient and Family Advisory Council Network—is a listserv for anyone interested in the work of patient and family advisory councils. The PFACnetwork currently has more than 250 participants.

Please send items or events for consideration for the News Flash page to institute@iffcc.org.

The Institute is offering webinars on the following ‘hot topics’ as another educational opportunity to advance the practice of patient- and family-centered care. Generally an hour and a half, webinars include presentations by Institute faculty members, followed by the opportunity for participants to ask questions and discuss the topic. Register and invite your colleagues to sit in on a webinar—you may have as many people in the room with you on a webinar for just one registration price.

Please let us know if you have a specific topic of interest as we expand our webinar series. Pinwheel Sponsors, be sure to call the Institute to receive your webinar discount.

• Changing the View that Families are Visitors—Strategies that Support Family Presence in Newborn Intensive Care and Pediatric Settings
• Creating a Patient and Family Advisory Council
• Advanced Session: Sustaining and Enhancing Your Patient and Family Advisory Council
• Excellence and Innovation in Partnering with Patients and Families to Measure Outcomes of Patient- and Family-Centered Care
  

To learn more, see the full webinar schedule, and register, READ MORE . . .

The March/April edition of the North Carolina Medical Journal features the article, Patient- and Family-Centered Care: Partnerships for Quality and Safety, written by the Institute’s Beverley H. Johnson; Marie R. Abraham, MA; and Terri L. Shelton, PhD.

Each installment of the Journal features a policy forum devoted to interchange and debate about a single, highly salient health issue. A major issue brief leads off each of these forums, followed by separate, shorter commentaries from persons with special perspectives or expertise. The focus of this month’s edition is the patient and his or her family. But it also reexamines the entire medical model and attempts to shift the focus toward the patient—her wants and her experiences. That approach is to provide health care that is patient-centered.

In their article, the authors point out that an accumulating body of research demonstrates that patient- and family-centered care benefits everyone involved and moreover, its benefits are substantial. "Patient- and family-centered care is increasingly linked to improved health outcomes; lower health care costs; more effective allocation of resources; reduced medical errors and litigation; greater patient, family, and professional satisfaction; increased patient/family self-efficacy/advocacy; and improved medical/ health education."

The article addresses the national momentum towards patient- and family-centered care, the adoption of the principles of the medical home, the Joint Commission’s patient safety goals, and highlights exemplary programs in North Carolina.

To read this exciting article, or the entire issue...

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