Free resources available from the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association (MHA) provide information designed to help clarify post-acute care options. The guidance comes in the form of two complementary reports, one for patients and their family members and one for providers and clinicians. The guide for providers and clinicians features the range of available post-acute […]
A large majority of patient and family advisory councils (PFACs) in 166 pediatric hospitals across the country made necessary adjustments at the beginning of the pandemic, continued meeting on a regular basis and maintained or surpassed pre-pandemic levels of participation. These results come from a survey performed by researchers from the Institute for Patient- and […]
Editor’s note: Through a career spanning more than 50 years, Jim Conway (who passed away last month) championed patients and families as full partners in care. As an executive at Boston Children’s Hospital, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, Conway was admired as an honest, direct and caring patient safety leader. […]
Editor’s Note: The complexity of the American healthcare system is difficult for patients, families and consumers to understand. It also frustrates clinicians and increases the risk that something will go wrong in the course of care. For those in need of care or simply trying to manage routine needs, such as ongoing medications, the system […]
In 2013, before I’d ever heard of “patient engagement,” I spent many days at doctor’s offices, hospitals, chemo infusion suites, in ambulances, and with visiting nurses in our home. My first husband, Ahmad, had Stage IV bladder cancer, and we spent a draining 11 months in a desperate quest to save his life. I observed […]
Watching coverage of rescues following tropical storm Harvey reinforced my growing awareness of a national problem. And I’m not thinking about storms and flooding (although the calamity continues). I’m increasingly aware of a large population of individuals and—if they’re lucky—their family caregivers who are engaged in challenging home care situations, often hidden, often without training or […]
In just a few weeks, at the National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF) Patient Safety Congress in Orlando, we will learn which individual or organization is to receive this year’s Sherman Award for Excellence in Patient Engagement. The NPSF Lucian Leape Institute began its collaboration with Engagingpatients.org to confer this award in the wake of a […]
The process of engaging patients in making care safer should be seen through a Santa Claus lens. It can be naughty or nice, depending not on good intentions but on the specifics of the intervention. Seeking True Empowerment The key question is whether patients are being truly empowered or whether providers are passing the buck, […]
No one ever expects to be given the challenge of having multiple medical needs. It is time consuming, exhausting, and gives insight in to a world that most of us would rather not have: that of the U.S. healthcare system. And not just a system, but a very fragmented and broken system which patients and […]
This week, I was once again reminded of the prevalence and impact of low health literacy. An article on WashingtonPost.com penned by CVS Caremark pointed to these statistics from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that looked at the elder segment of the population, age 65 and older: 2/3 of older people are unable to […]