A Path to Patient-Family-Centric Care

In the evolving healthcare landscape, patient-family-centricity has become a prominent goal, marked by a shift away from paternalism towards shared decision-making. Shared decision-making, a collaborative approach that involves healthcare providers and patients working together to create a treatment plan that aligns with the patient's needs and goals, has gained recognition for its potential to enhance the quality of care. However, the authors of the article "How Healthcare Can Overcome Shared Decision-Making Challenges" highlight that this practice remains underutilized, occurring in just 10 percent of in-person patient encounters.

To develop an effective patient-family-centric care strategy, healthcare organizations must increase efforts to implement shared decision-making across all clinical practices. To achieve this, the authors recommend several key steps:

• Digital Integration: Healthcare providers should integrate shared decision-making into their digital workflows. Patient and family engagement platforms, such as Diya Health, that assist in shared decision-making should be seamlessly incorporated into EHRs, ideally supported by analytics and predictive risk measurements.
• Enhancing Measurement Tools: Robust measures are essential for evaluating the value and effectiveness of shared decision-making. Current measures consider patient and clinician perspectives but can be expanded to assess content validity, interpretability, and the organizational factors influencing shared decision-making.
• Patient-Family-Facing Resources: Patients and families must have access to educational materials, personalized communication, decision support, and trusted health messaging from credible sources. For instance, public health campaigns through automated content delivery can promote shared decision-making, particularly in areas like cancer screening.
• Interpersonal Training: Healthcare professionals need training in shared decision-making, emphasizing team-based care and effective communication with diverse patient populations. Such training will empower clinicians to engage patients in meaningful discussions about their care.
• Fostering Health Equity: Formalizing shared decision-making is critical for advancing health equity. By acknowledging patients as integral care team members and considering their unique needs and perspectives, healthcare providers can build trust and address health disparities. Validated tools for shared decision-making can further support equitable patient experiences.

In conclusion, shared decision-making is vital to patient-family-centric care in the evolving healthcare landscape. By embracing this collaborative approach, healthcare providers can ensure that patients' treatment goals are at the forefront, facilitating informed decisions that align with individual needs and preferences. As the healthcare industry works towards clinical advancements, shared decision-making remains instrumental in delivering high-quality, patient-family-centered care.

Reference:

• https://patientengagementhit.com/news/how-healthcare-can-overcome-shared-decision-making-challenges