Look Through Patients' Eyes to Improve the Delivery of Care.

Abstract

By developing and implementing a method for seeing the healthcare experience from the standpoint of patients and family members, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center has improved care delivery, lowered costs, and improved patient satisfaction. Cross-functional, multidisciplinary teams use a six-step patient and family-centered care methodology to identify gaps and develop changes that will improve the patient experience and clinical outcomes. Committee members shadow patients and family members to get firsthand knowledge about what they are going through and what goes wrong and what goes right. The teams proposed minor and major changes, but none involve adding more staff and few involve more expenditures.