Engaging Patients and Families

Publication Date: January 2007

Publisher: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Author(s): T. Merryman

Research Area: Health

Type: White Paper

Abstract:

University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Shadyside Hospital was one of three pilot Transforming Care at the Bedside® (TCAB) hospitals selected by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in 2003 to develop and rapidly test ideas to validate a process for transforming and improving inpatient care in hospital medical-surgical units. Having achieved measurable success in the areas of patient/family satisfaction and staff vitality/retention with TCAB, UPMC Shadyside has spread the TCAB model to the majority of UPMC hospitals, as well as to other patient populations (intensive care units, step-down units, and even ambulatory settings).

UPMC's TCAB initiatives bring patients and families into the quality care delivery improvement process in unique and substantive ways, as evidenced by the following examples:

Patient-controlled liberalized diets: empowering patients to make menu selections and participate in nutrition education.
Condition H(elp): Patient- and family-initiated rapid response teams that increase patient empowerment and improve quality of care by taking advantage of patients' and family members' intimate knowledge of their own conditions.
Patient and family advisory boards.
Time 2 Turn: A simple visual cue that alerts the care team when patients who are at-risk for skin breakdown need to be repositioned.
Pain posters: To address patients' pain and keep the entire care team updated on their patient's pain regimen