Patients

Clinica Care Team Coordinates Patient Care - Lafayette Clinic, Purple Pod

Patient-centered Healthcare

The iPN strives towards fostering a “patient-centered” healthcare environment. From Don Berwick’s May 2009 Health Affairs article, What ‘Patient-Centered’ Should Mean, three useful maxims on patient-centeredness are:

1.       The needs of the patient come first.

2.       Nothing about me without me.

3.       Every patient is the only patient.

The Institute of Medicine’s 2001 report, Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century, called for health care systems that:

• Respect patients’ values, preferences and expressed needs
• Coordinate and integrate care across boundaries of the system
• Provide the information, communication, and education that people need and want
• Guarantee physical comfort, emotional support, and the involvement of family and friends

It is recognized that while these characteristics of care are widely accepted, they are not always well implemented. Today’s complex, fragmented systems put great pressure on providers and center care on the needs of the system itself, not the needs of patients. Working together, we can do better, and in doing so, improve patient well-being while reducing unwanted care.

Care that is truly patient-centered considers patients’ cultural traditions, their personal preferences and values, their family situations, and their lifestyles. It makes the patient and their loved ones an integral part of the care team who collaborate with health care professionals in making clinical decisions. Patient-centered care puts responsibility for important aspects of self-care and monitoring in patients’ hands — along with the tools and support they need to carry out that responsibility. Patient-centered care ensures that transitions between providers, departments, and health care settings are respectful, coordinated, and efficient. When care is patient centered, unneeded and unwanted services can be reduced.

Resources for Patients

Listing of iPN Member Practices – contact information and map links to your doctor’s offices

Link to a map of the iPN Community

Free Diabetes Education Seminar for Patients and Families – Registration

Links to recommended websites for patients

Patient Testimonials