Quality & Patient Safety

Patient advisory boards engage patients in their own care

Patient Safety Monitor (Briefings on Patient Safety), October 1, 2009

This is an excerpt from a member only article. To read the article in its entirety, please login or subscribe to Patient Safety Monitor (Briefings on Patient Safety).

In today’s culture, many hospitals are increasing their focus on patient-centered care—involving patients in their own care decisions to improve outcomes. One route facilities often choose is creating a patient advisory board or committee.
“There are studies that have demonstrated that engaged patients who become informed and participate in their own healthcare have better outcomes,” says ¬Kathryn Leonhardt, MD, MPH, patient safety officer and medical director of care management at Aurora Health Care in Milwaukee. “We realize we need to find better ways to engage our patients. If patients are not engaged, it’s because we as the healthcare system have not been effective in engaging them. The role of a patient ¬advisory committee is to help us understand from the patient perspective which processes and tools can facilitate that engagement.”

This is an excerpt from a member only article. To read the article in its entirety, please login or subscribe to Patient Safety Monitor (Briefings on Patient Safety).

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