Asking patients “What matters to you?” instead of “What is the matter?” is a shift of emphasis I first heard advocated years ago at one of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s National Forum conferences. To learn and honor each patient’s preferences should by now be a natural part of delivering care, but it remains a […]
Editor’s note: Healthcare decisions are deeply personal and often reflect race, ethnicity, gender and experience. In a post for The Conversation Project (excerpted below), Naomi Fedna relates a personal story and describes how being a black woman affects her experience of care planning. When I first joined IHI’s Conversation Project (TCP) team as a project […]
Anticipating and planning for the future is an important way for each of us to engage in healthcare for ourselves, friends and family members. Being self-employed, I’m prompted to plan for the coming year when I choose a health insurance plan, which involves anticipating what my medical needs will be. I’ve been lucky so far, […]
Patient Safety Awareness Week (PSAW) – observed next week, March 10-16 – recognizes ongoing efforts to improve the safety of healthcare. It is a time both to acknowledge contributions from all quarters in the way of projects, research, education and support and to inspire everyone to become more involved. Started by the National Patient Safety […]
For those of us who specialize in patient safety, the field is very much about the science of improvement, measuring performance, testing initiatives, and keeping on top of the latest research. Patient engagement is critical to our efforts, because the voice of experience adds valuable insight and direction to health professionals and leaders seeking to […]