The Institute for Patient- and Family-Centered Care (IPFCC) is pleased to announce the July 1, 2013 opening of the Call for Abstracts for The 6th International Conference on Patient- and Family-Centered Care: Partnerships for Quality and Safety. Providence Health Care is providing leadership support for the International Conference and the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement is serving as a program partner. The Conference will be held August 6-August 8, 2014, in scenic Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The abstract submission period will run from July 1- August 15, 2013.

The International Conference on Patient- and Family-Centered Care showcases innovative and exemplary programs that are dedicated to collaboration among health professionals, patients, residents in long-term care communities, and families and other care partners. The conference provides opportunities to address emerging issues in patient- and family-centered care at the direct care level as well as the organizational, community, regional, and national levels. The conference will feature a variety of formal and informal meetings, including plenary sessions, concurrent/topical breakout sessions, networking discussions, and poster presentations.

Presentations accepted from IPFCC's Call for Abstracts, which opens July 1, 2013, will be included as concurrent/topical breakout sessions and poster presentations. Teams of individuals and those from organizations are invited to submit abstracts that represent innovative and effective patient- and family-centered programs from hospitals, primary care, specialty ambulatory settings, long-term and residential care, community-based programs, public health and mental health agencies, patient- and family-led organizations, and schools of medicine, nursing, and other health and helping professions. Priority consideration will be given to submissions that highlight collaborative roles for patients, residents in long-term care communities, and families in all aspects of a program, project, or initiative including as abstract authors and presenters. In addition, abstracts will also be reviewed on the following criteria: reflective of patient- and family-centered care, innovative, replicable, evidence-based, and level of effectiveness of proposed presentation or poster. Details about the review criteria and instructions for submitting an abstract will be available on the online abstract submission site opening July 1, 2013.

Plan to be part of this important International Conference! Join us in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Share your expertise and inspire others to advance patient- and family-centered care and create partnerships that will bring about sustainable improvements in health care quality and safety.

Learn more about the abstract submission process.  

Call for Abstracts Brochure

Abstract Deadline: August 15, 2013. 

The American Hospital Association-McKesson Quest for Quality Prize® is presented annually to honor hospitals pursuing excellence through hospital leadership and innovation in quality improvement and safety. Applications for the 2014 prize are now available, and completed applications must be submitted no later than October 13, 2013.

According to the American Hospital Association, the goals of this award are to:

• Raise awareness of the need for a hospital-wide commitment to highly reliable, exceptional quality, safe, patient-centered care;
• Reward successful efforts to develop and promote a systems-based approach toward improvements in quality of care;
• Inspire hospitals to systematically integrate and align their improvement efforts throughout the organization; and
• Communicate successful programs and strategies to the hospital field.
  

The Quest for Quality Prize honors hospitals that:

• Have committed in a systematic manner to achieving the Institute of Medicine's (IOM) six quality aims-safety, patient [and family]-centeredness, effectiveness, efficiency, timeliness, and equity;
• Can document progress in achievement of all six of the IOM aims; and
• Provide replicable models and approaches for the hospital field.

All U.S. hospitals are eligible for the $75,000 AHA-McKesson Quest for Quality Prize®.         

The awards are presented at the annual AHA-Health Forum Leadership Summit generally held in July. The 2012 AHA-McKesson Quest for Quality Prize winner was University Hospitals Case Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio. Past winners have included the following IPFCC Pinwheel Sponsors:  Memorial Regional Hospital, Hollywood, Florida (2011 Winner); Bronson Methodist Hospital, Kalamazoo, Michigan (2009 Winner); and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati, Ohio (2006 Winner).

The 2013 Honorees will be announced in July 2013.

Congratulations to IPFCC faculty member, Marlene Fondrick, RN, MSN. The Minnesota Hospital Association recently awarded Marlene its Volunteer of the Year Award for her work at Perham Health as a patient/family partner.

The Minnesota Hospital Association Annual Health Care Awards honor "individuals who have offered dedicated service to hospitals and organizations that have implemented successful, innovative programs."

According to the MHA, "As a volunteer for Perham Health, Marlene has volunteered her time to teach, mentor, and contagiously share her passion for patient advocacy. Her initial investment began as a family member of a Perham Health patient, later as a patient herself, and now as an advocate for all patients and families. She helped start a patient and family council and continues to be a member of this group known as the Partners in Care Council. She also serves on the Quality Council, Just Culture Task Force, and the Home Care Advisory Committee. Marlene chose to use her personal experience fighting breast cancer to improve local and regional health care processes related to communication, referrals, and transitions of care. Perham Health CEO Chuck Hofius remarked, 'I have never seen one individual that has had more impact on the lives of patients, families, and caregivers than Marlene Fondrick.'"

Marlene brings to her volunteer work a wealth of experience, both as a clinician and an administrator. She was formerly the Vice President for Patient Care Services at Children's Hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota and served as a Vice President for the two merged Children's Hospitals in the Twin Cities. For many years, she was the staff liaison to a very successful family advisory council at Children's Hospital of St. Paul.

Marlene has also served as the director of a perinatal center and a facilitator for NACHRI's Focus Groups for newborn intensive care, working with neonatologists and nursing leaders on quality improvement projects. Additionally, Marlene worked with the Institute for Patient- and Family-Centered Care (IPFCC) to provide on-site training and technical assistance for hospitals, as well as being a faculty member for IPFCC intensive training seminars and webinars.

In 2009, Marlene was honored as one of 100 Distinguished Graduates from the University of Minnesota at the School of Nursing's Centennial Celebration.

Congratulations, Marlene!

Harvey Picker Center of Innovation Applied Research Program provides five annual grants, each up to $10,000, "to support research of innovative projects that are designed to facilitate successful initiatives that will advance the development of person-centered cultures and implementation of person-centered care across the spectrum of long-term care settings and services."

This program is seeking proposals that "aim to advance the development of exceptional Person-Centered Long-Term Care Leadership and the deployment of Innovative Person-Centered Long-Term Care Practices." Proposals addressing other issues of critical importance are also welcome. According to the request for proposals, "The expected outcome of a grantee's project will be a demonstration, including a robust dissemination plan of the measurable effects, affordability, and sustainability of the effort to advance person-centered cultures and/or the implementation of person-centered care."

Letters of Intent due July 15, 2013.

The American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Center for Medical Home Implementation released a monograph, Positioning the Family and Patient at the Center: A Guide to Family and Patient Partnership in the Medical Home. This report features family-centered medical home strategies from 17 pediatric primary care practices from across the country. The monograph—which includes case studies, as well as a literature review and a discussion of policy implications—serves as a resource to pediatricians who are considering implementing the patient- and family-centered medical home model in their practices.

"We were prepared to see the case studies featured in this monograph document practice improvements such as greater use of health information technology, enhanced access to medical professional staff outside regular office hours, and some form of feedback capturing patient/family experience with care," said Nora Wells, co-director of the National Center for Family/Professional Partnerships in Family Voices. "What we did not expect to see, however, is the amazing breadth and depth of the collaborative efforts these practices have in place." Nora served on the monograph's advisory committee along with the Institute for Patient- and Family-Centered Care's Joanna Kaufman and Barbara Kahl; Lee Partridge from the National Partnership for Women and Families; Michelle Esquivel from the American Academy of Pediatrics; and Marie Mann from Health Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The entire monograph is available online.