Who's on board? The next frontier in health care has the patient firmly rooted at the center of the care team

• Published in: AHA News Vol. 52; no. 25; p. 4
• Main Author: Bhatt, Jay
• Format: Trade Publication Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chicago American Hospital Association 16.12.2016
• Subjects: Ambulatory care; Health care delivery; Patient safety; Quality of care; Transitions; United States > US
• ISSN: 0891-6608

The Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET) was recently awarded a contract from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to work with experts in ambulatory care, patient and family engagement (PFE) and care transitions to create a toolkit specific to the ambulatory care setting. By improving communication among patients and families and clinical staff during ambulatory transitions in care, the toolkit has the potential to address any safety issues that may arise. A growing body of evidence shows a clear association between engaging with patients and families, fewer adverse events, better patient self-management and reduced hospital readmissions. Using AHRQ's "Guide to Patient and Family Engagement in Hospital Quality and Safety as a model, the HRET team developed a toolkit to help ensure smooth ambulatory transitions in care. Bhatt elaborates further on this next frontier health care, specifically ambulatory transitions and patient safety.