Patricia Sodomka, FACHE, likens being a patient-centered organization to being pregnant. “You can’t just do it a little. Either you are patient-centered, or you’re not.” Sodomka is Senior Vice President for Patient- and Family-Centered Care at the Medical College of Georgia (MCG) Health System in Augusta, Georgia. The organization is a national model for patient- and family-centered care.
“Being truly patient-centered requires attention in four main areas,” she says. “Environment and design — giving patients and families better access; technology — making it easier for them to get information; quality and safety — making sure patients’ voices are heard; and leadership — focusing the organization at all levels.”
At MCG Health System, 130 volunteer patient advisors — patients and former patients with special training — sit on 45 committees and work with every department to promote partnership with patients. “These are more than just nice people,” says Sodomka, “and this is not about complaint sessions or social work. It is advocacy and partnership.” The advisors facilitate communication between patients and families and the organization.
“Becoming truly patient- and family-centered changes everything you do, from strategic planning to your philosophy of care, to how you design your building,” says Sodomka. “The only way to do it is by having experienced patient advisors in your organization. You can’t get to patient-centeredness without them.”
02/01/2007
