According to the Compass Hospitals Quality Improvement Contractors (HQIC), the purpose of Patient and Family Engagement (PFE) is to engage patients with hospital staff and clinicians to reduce harm during their hospital stay. They list 5 metrics for implementing Patient and Family Engagement. The 5 Metrics are:
- Admission Planning Checklist
- Discharge Planning Checklist
- Shift Change Huddle + Bedside Reporting
- Accountable Patient and Family Leader
- Active Patient and Family Advisory Council or Patient Representation on Committee
As stated in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) PFE Strategy, “CMS puts the best interest of the public first and actively encourages persons to engage with their providers and empowers patients and advocates to communicate their personal preferences. CMS defines PFE as patients and families are partners in defining, designing, participating in, and assessing the care practices and systems that serve them to assure they are respectful of and responsive to individual patient preferences, needs, and values. This collaborative engagement allows patient values to guide all clinical decisions and drives genuine transformation in attitudes, behavior, and practice. CMS applies PFE best practices by meaningfully including patients and advocates in their policy discussions. A person and family engagement goes beyond informed consent. It is about proactive communication and partnered decision-making between healthcare providers, patients, families, and caregivers. It is about building a care relationship that is based on trust and inclusion of individual values and beliefs.” The purpose of this CMS PFE strategy is to:
- Enhance person and family engagement.
- Establish definitions and consistency for frequently used terms to help people engage in their healthcare.
- Serve as a guide to support meaningful, intentional application of person and family engagement principles to all policies and programs addressing health, and wellbeing.
- Create a foundation for expanding awareness and enhancing person and family engagement.
Here are some excellent resources on Patient and Family Engagement:
- Compass HQIC – Implementing PFE Metrics form –Â This document explains the 5 PFE Metrics for Compass HQIC reporting. Â
- Connecting PFE Best Practices to All-Cause Harm Reduction – The five PFE Best Practices provide the opportunity to activate partnerships among patients, clinicians, and staff to reduce harm. In other words, each of the five PFE Best Practices, when implemented, provides an opportunity for hospital staff, clinicians, patients, and designated care partners to engage in meaningful conversations that result in increased patient safety.
- Person and Family Engagement Toolkit: A Guide for Measure Developers – CMS developed the PFE Toolkit as a roadmap for successful engagement with PFE Partners. It is an easy-to-follow, comprehensive guide intended to support implementing best and standard practices for PFE across all CMS contractors. The PFE Toolkit will provide essential information and resources for measure developers to improve or establish PFE processes across their organizations.
As always if you have any questions on Patient and Family Engagement, please contact your Clinical Improvement Advisors Michelle Hofer at michelle.hofer@sdaho.org or Loretta Bryan at loretta.bryan@sdaho.org.
