What is Patient Engagement in Health Care?
Patient engagement is centered on providers and patients working together as partners to improve the quality of health care. It involves patients, families, and caregivers collaborating with providers to take a more active role in their care.1 Their participation as members of their own health care team can contribute to improving health outcomes, reducing readmissions, and increasing overall patient satisfaction.2,3
Redesigning Care for Patient Engagement
Redesigning system processes and policies to support partnerships between patients, families, caregivers, and the health care team can help facilitate patient engagement. To foster patient engagement in improving care delivery, practices are increasingly incorporating patient perspectives in the redesign process through methods, such as Patient and Family Advisory Councils (PFACs). PFACs can inform implementation of evidence-based care by translating best practices into culturally and community-relevant messages and materials for patient engagement.
Patient and Family Advisory Council Guide for Ambulatory Practices
Patient and Family Advisory Councils (PFACs) are a key component for practice quality improvement. They offer an ongoing mechanism to support meaningful partnerships among patient and family advisors, staff, clinicians, and organizational leaders.4 In 2019, MHCC developed a PFAC Guide for Ambulatory Practices (Guide) to inform PFAC decision-making and meet the needs of practices that plan to convene or have convened a PFAC. The Guide provides practices with information and resources to help create, integrate, and expand a PFAC. For a copy of the Guide, click here.
Addendum to the PFAC Guide for Ambulatory Practices
In the Fall of 2020, MHCC convened PFAC focus groups to discuss changes to PFACs implemented in response to the COVID-19 public health emergency. Focus groups included representatives from 39 Maryland practices. The Addendum to the PFAC Guide for Ambulatory Practices provides actionable steps to support patient and family engagement and PFAC activities when there are limitations on convening in-person meetings. Click here for the addendum.
Resources
Agency for
Healthcare Research and Quality
Tools to help prioritize concerns and maximize interactions between providers, patients, and families
Institute for Healthcare Improvement Continuity of Care
Resources to support partnerships between clinicians and patients and their families
Institute for Patient- and Family-Centered Care
Guidance materials, webinars, reports, and tools to assist patient and family leaders, clinicians, staff, and administrators in their patient- and family-centered care efforts
Person and Family Engagement Toolkit
A comprehensive guide intended to support the implementation of best and standard practices for patient and family engagement
The Beryl Institute
A library of patient experience resources, such as podcasts, reports, and publications aimed at supporting patient and family engagement
1. Goodridge D., Henry C., Watson E., et al. (2018). Structured approaches to promote patient and family engagement in treatment in acute care hospital settings: protocol for a systematic scoping review. Systematic Reviews. Available at: systematicreviewsjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13643-018-0694-9.
2. Sandvin Olsson, A. B., Strøm, A., Haaland-Øverby, M., Fredriksen, K., & Stenberg, U. (2020). How can we describe impact of adult patient participation in health-service development? A scoping review. Patient Education and Counseling. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0738399120300999.
3. Issue Brief: Patient and Family Engagement: A Partnership for Culture Change: A Report of the NCIOM Task Force on Patient and Family Engagement. (2015). North Carolina Medical Journal. Available at: https://nciom.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Patient-FamilyEngage_Report-FINAL.pdf.
4. Institute for Patient- and Family-Centered Care, Engaging Patient and Family Advisors in Research: Effective Patient and Family Advisory Councils. Available at: https://www.ipfcc.org/bestpractices/sustainable-partnerships/engaging/effective-pfacs.html.