You might not think our health care system needs to be reminded to center its efforts on the patient. But as the system has grown more complex and fragmented, and as providers feel more pressure to see more patients in less time, care has become centered not on the needs of patients, but around the needs of the system itself.

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.

Advancing patient-centered care is clearly a multi-faceted challenge, which many organizations have taken on. Many have achieved remarkable results. IHI, with the support of the Rx Foundation and The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is working to identify best practices and promising system changes that enable patient-centered care.  IHI’s goal is to articulate patient-centered care designs that “raise the bar” compared with our systems’ current performance.

IHI has chosen to focus initially on three themes:

• Involving patients and families in the design of care
• Reliably meeting patient’s needs and preferences
• Informed shared decision-making