Conference to showcase patient and family-centered strategies

This is a critical time to be involved in improving health care in the United States as well as in other nations around the world. These challenging times require inspired leadership, innovative solutions, and enduring partnerships to improve health care in community-based health care organizations, hospitals, and health systems. The Institute for Patient- and Family-Centered Care will convene a three-day conference, June 4-6, to examine patient- and family-centered approaches and best practices for developing stronger partnerships among patients, families, and health care providers at the direct care level, and the organizational and program level. This conference supports the increasing awareness that to achieve the best patient outcomes, patients and families must be actively engaged in decisions about their health care, have enhanced access to useful information and support, and be partners in planning and implementing change and improvement in health care.

This conference showcases patient- and family-centered strategies that address the complex challenges in health care such as rising costs, less than optimal patient and family experience, and quality and safety concerns for reducing preventable readmissions, decreasing infections, and providing safe care transitions. International experts and innovators will examine patient- and family-centered approaches and best practices to help guide health care professionals in developing more effective partnerships with patients and families at every level. Participants will learn about cutting-edge innovations that improve the health care experience and keep patients from getting injured or sicker, and help them heal without complications.

Improving health care requires restructuring health care systems to focus on results. Because of the extent and complexity of the ever-present challenges, this involves the collaborative efforts of all stakeholders. Partnerships on many levels—involving patients and their families, health care professionals, health care senior leaders, planners and policymakers, third-party payers, and government agencies—are all essential. This unique conference assembles more than 150 patient and family advisors and leaders as presenters or co-presenters discussing exemplary programs dedicated to authentic collaboration among patients, families, health care professionals, and policy specialists.

The Institute for Patient- and Family-Centered Care is partnering with the Samueli Institute and the Picker Institute in convening this conference. The Samueli Institute presents a series of sessions that highlight effective strategies for creating, implementing, and evaluating mind-body programs and practices within a patient- and family-centered context. The Picker Institute presents the Picker Patient Experience Series—seven presentations—including the Picker Lecture by Dr. Don Berwick, former CMS Administrator and IHI Chief Executive Officer, and several posters that depict innovation in patient-centered care, emphasizing partnerships with patients and families in health care.

In addition to the strong programming identified by the Samueli Institute and the Picker Institute, and other breakout sessions representing organizations from around the world, nationally acclaimed keynote and highlighted speakers strengthen the message that partnerships with patients and families are integral to the practice of patient- and family-centered care and essential to redesigning health care and improving quality, safety, and the experience of care. Keynote and highlighted speakers include:

Richard J. Baron, MD, Group Director, Seamless Care Models, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation

Christine Bechtel, Vice President, National Partnership for Women & Families

Don Berwick, MD, former CMS Administrator and IHI Chief Executive Officer

Tiffany Christensen, Patient Leader and Master Trainer of TeamSTEPPS

Liz Crocker, Business Woman and Co-Author, Privileged Presence: Personal Stories of Connections in Health Care

Joanna Celenza, Family Leader and Faculty, Vermont Oxford Network

Susan Edgman-Levitan, Executive Director, John D. Stoeckle Center for Primary Care Innovation at Massachusetts General Hospital

Tracy W. Gaudet, MD, Director, VHA Office of Patient-Centered Care and Cultural Transformation

Jeffrey Horbar, MD, Chief Executive and Scientific Officer, Vermont Oxford Network

Steven Johnson, author of Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation

Farzad Mostashari, MD, ScM, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology within the HHS Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology

Debra Ness, President, National Partnership for Women & Families