There is a lot of things changing in health care these days. One of the better changes, in my opinion, is the increased involvement of patients in their own health.
As a family doctor, I would often be frustrated by the need to improve the health of my patients who were unwilling to take responsibility for their own actions. While I fully understand that it is their decision to follow advice or not, I always feel badly when they don’t, and then something bad happens.
The other side of that coin is just as important – how frustrated patients get when the “system” doesn’t listen to them and do the things that are needed to help them.
Time pressures, rules and regulations, lack of continuous care, and a lot of other complex issues are to blame. From the perspective of the patient and the family, none of that matters. It causes them to have a poor experience at best and a bad outcome at worst.
OSF HealthCare is focusing on service excellence and patient experience as part of its strategic efforts. If we fully embrace those efforts, the impact can be wonderful.
One area that is key to patient engagement is discussion of their values and their preferences, especially surrounding serious or life-limiting illnesses. OSF Care Decisions is a driver of patient and family engagement.
So… have you done your advance care plan yet?
Last Updated: November 5, 2018