July 2012, Issue 53

Early Bird Registration Ends August 1, 2012!

Hospitals and Communities

Moving Forward with

Patient- and Family-Centered Care

An Intensive Training Seminar ~

                                      Partnerships for Quality and Safety

                                                October 1-4, 2012 ♦ Ann Arbor, Michigan

                                                 Ann Arbor Marriott Ypsilanti at Eagle Crest

                                           Register Now

Institute and University of Michigan Health System Bring Intensive Training Seminar to Ann Arbor; August 1 Deadline for Early Bird Registration
American Hospital Association-McKesson 2012 Quest for Quality Prizes Announced
Secretary Clinton's Inspirational Speech at the National Partnership for Women & Familes
Guide to Patient and Family Engagement: AHRQ Environmental Scan Report
"The Take-Charge Patient"
Institute for Patient- and
Family-Centered Care
6917 Arlington Road, Suite 309
Bethesda, MD 20814
P: 301 652-0281
F: 301 652-0186
E: institute@ipfcc.org
W:  www.ipfcc.org
Institute and University of Michigan Health System Bring Intensive Training Seminar to Ann Arbor; August 1 Deadline for Early Bird Registration

The Institute is proud to partner with the University of Michigan Health System to bring the Hospitals and Communities Moving Forward with Patient- and Family-Centered Care: An Intensive Training Seminar ~ Partnerships for Quality and Safety to Ann Arbor, October 1-4, 2012. The August 1st deadline for the early bird registration is fast approaching!

The University of Michigan Health System (UMHS) is an academic health center and has consistently been named to the U.S. News & World Report's Honor Roll of America's Best Hospitals. UMHS was the finalist for the 2008 American Hospital Association McKesson Quest for Quality Prize (see article below about 2012 prizes, and information about 2013 application).

The Health System includes three hospital facilities: University Hospital and the Cardiovascular Center, C.S. Mott Children's Hospital, and Von Voigtlander Women's Hospital, and dozens of outpatient health centers and clinics. The U-M Medical School is one of the nation's biomedical research powerhouses and achieves high rankings for excellence in education and training of physicians and biomedical scientists.

The University of Michigan Health System recognizes patient- and family-centered care (PFCC) as a significant element in meeting the strategic goal for "Creating the Ideal Patient Care Experience." Health care practitioners, staff, and administrators at all levels of care at UMHS have identified PFCC as a principle and a standard practice for planning, delivering, and evaluating health care programs, services, facilities, and policies. UMHS is committed to PFCC as a process to help drive cultural transformation. For example, UMHS, which already has over 300 patients and family members serving as advisors, is continuing to develop PFCC committees and advisory councils in other areas such as adult critical care, psychiatry, emergency medicine, and ambulatory care. UMHS's patient and family satisfaction has significantly improved and communication and partnerships among doctors, nurses, health care providers, and patients and families is enhanced.

To learn more about the seminar, please read the brochure.

The Seminar will be held at the Ann Arbor Marriott Ypsilanti at Eagle Crest Resort. The discounted block of rooms being held there for seminar participants is likely to sell out before the Marriott's September 7 deadline.

Continuing Education credit will be offered for nurses, social workers, and physicians.

Register Now to take advantage of the Early Bird reduced rate for those who register by August 1, 2012.



Coming to Ann Arbor Seminar? Sign Up for a Hospital Tour! Enjoy a "Tailgate" Dinner at the U of M Football Stadium!

Seminar participants will have the opportunity to sign up for one of two University of Michigan Health System Tours:

The tour of the University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center (CVC) will include the Atrium Garden, Heart Healthy Cafe, Mardigian Wellness Resource Center, Cardiac Procedures Unit, Observation Unit, Donor Recognition, Outpatient Cardiovascular Clinics, Pathology Labs and Non-Invasive Testing, Operating Rooms/Interventional Radiology, Cardiovascular ICU, Quiet Spiritual/ Meditation Rooms, and Moderate Care Cardiovascular Unit.

The tour of the University of Michigan's C. S. Mott Children's Hopsital and Von Voigtlander Women's Hospital, opened in December 2011, will include:

  • Inpatient rooms including pediatric general care, pediatric intensive care, newborn intensive care, and women's labor/birth rooms which offer family sleep space, mini-refrigerators, and access to the GetWellNetwork;
  • Universal spaces including family center, chapel, family exercise room, and family lounge, complete with kitchenette and laundry facilities; and
  • Special amenities including an indoor Michigan Football-themed playground, Ronald McDonald House within the hospital, and Wall of Hope/photo art displays.

Tour space is limited so be sure to register early.

BONUS: All seminar participants will have the opportunity to to enjoy a special "tailgate" dinner event at the University of Michigan's "Big House"—the largest football stadium in the country.

American Hospital Association-McKesson 2012 Quest for Quality Prizes Announced

American Hospital Association-McKesson announced its 2012 Quest for Quality Prizes on July 19, 2012, recognizing four U.S. hospitals for their leadership and innovation in quality improvement and safety.

The 2012 winner of the AHA-McKesson Quest for Quality Prize is University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland. "University Hospitals Case Medical Center, which serves patients and communities in the Greater Cleveland area, was selected by a multi-disciplinary committee of health care quality and patient safety experts based on its culture of quality and efforts to achieve the Institute of Medicine's (IOM) six quality aims for safe, effective, efficient, timely, patient-centered, and equitable health care." As the winner, Case Medical Center will receive $75,000.

The American Hospital Association-McKesson Quest for Quality Prize is presented annually to honor leadership and innovation in quality improvement and safety. The prize is supported by a grant from the McKesson Corporation. Criteria for the 2012 award included the demonstration of an organizational commitment to and progress in achieving the IOM's six quality aims, mentioned below. "The goals of the prize are to raise awareness of the need for a hospital-wide commitment to highly reliable, exceptional quality, 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 quality improvement efforts throughout the organization; and communicate successful programs and strategies to the hospital field." The award honors hospitals that are "making progress in quality improvement and offer models that can be replicated by others in the hospital field."

AHA/McKesson honored as finalists both Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center in the Bronx, N.Y. and University of North Carolina Hospitals in Chapel Hill, N.C. and each will receive $12,500. Meriter Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin, received a Citation of Merit.

Learn More about each of these hospitals and what makes them leaders and innovators in quality improvement and safety...

Two of the last three winners are Institute Pinwheel Sponsors: Memorial Regional Hospital, Hollywood, Florida (2011) and Bronson Methodist Hospital, Kalamazoo, MI (2009). The University of Michigan, also a Pinwheel Sponsor, was the 2008 finalist.

Applications for the 2013 American Hospital Association-McKesson Quest for Quality Prize ~ Hospitals in Pursuit of Excellence are available on the AHA website. Completed applications are due on October 14th, 2012.

Secretary Clinton's Inspirational Speech at the National Partnership for Women & Familes

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's remarks at the recent 2012 annual luncheon honoring her at the National Partnership for Women & Families inspired members of the staff from the Institute for Patient- and Family-Centered Care, who were among more than 1600 attendees.

Secretary Clinton told moving stories and offered poignant examples of how women all around the world and from all walks of life can band together to create a better society in which all people have access to health care, education, and economic opportunities. One of her themes included the importance of collaboration, and among her advice was: "Get organized, get involved, and don't let anyone tell you it can't be done..." certainly applicable when working to advance patient- and family-centered care!

Highlights, including photos, video clips, speeches, and more...


U.S. News & World Report's 2012-2013 Honor Roll


Congratulations to Institute Pinwheel Sponsors named in the newly released U.S. News & World Report's 2012-2013 Honor Roll for America's Best Hospitals and 2012-2013 Honor Roll of the Best Children's Hospitals. Five of the Institute's Pinwheel Sponsors are among the 17 hospitals or health care systems listed on the U.S. News & World Report's 2012-2013 Honor Roll for America's Best Hospitals and eight Pinwheel Sponsors are on the list of twelve 2012-2013 Honor Roll of the Best Children's Hospitals. Read More...

Guide to Patient and Family Engagement: AHRQ Environmental Scan Report

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) conducted an environmental scan, in which it sought to identify strategies and interventions used to engage patients and families in their care and at an organizational level with regard to safety and quality. Two broad types of strategies or interventions that promoted or facilitated patient and family engagement are hospital level and individual level interventions.

Within the hospital level category, AHRQ found four categories of interventions:

◊ Engaging patients and families as members of their care team;

◊ Facilitating communication among patients, family members, and the care team;

◊ Supporting increases in patient or family member knowledge, skills, or abilities; and

◊ Involving patients and families at a hospital level.

The scan captured strategies and interventions used to engage patients and families as members of their health care team including bedside rounds, bedside change of shift reports, patient/family-activated rapid response teams, access of medical record information by patients and family members, and other specific efforts to encourage family participation. Read more about the report.

The scan informed the development of the Guide to Patient and Family Engagement in Health Care Quality and Safety. The Guide is currently being piloted and tested in three hospitals. After evaluation is complete and feedback is received from patients, families, physicians, staff, and administrative leaders, the Guide will be finalized and made available to the public.

"The Take-Charge Patient"


In her newest book, The Take-Charge Patient, Martine Ehrenclou starts with the notion that health care is a "team sport" and that it is imperative to have collaborative relationships with your health care providers. The Take-Charge Patient empowers patients to become proactive, assertive, well-informed participants in their own health care. The book includes advice and personal stories from over 200 doctors, nurses, pharmacists, other medical professionals and patients.

Ms. Ehrenclou is an author, patient advocate, and speaker who writes with knowledge gained from extensive research and her own experience as a patient and as a family member caring for hospitalized loved ones. Hear, in Ms. Ehrenclou's own words, why she wrote her earlier book, Critical Conditions. Learn more, and hear an interview with the author, in which she discusses the importance of partnership.


Welcome to Eva Shpak


The Institute welcomes our newest intern, Eva Shpak.

Eva lives in Bethesda with her parents. She has two older sisters who live and work in the area. Eva is a sophomore at St. Mary's College in Maryland, and is interested in economics, math, and environmental studies. She swims for the St. Mary's Varsity Women's Swim Team, which is in Division 3. In her spare time at school, Eva and a friend co-host The Buzz college radio show.

This summer, you may occasionally hear Eva's voice when calling the Institute. Eva assists with a variety of administrative tasks, including updating the Institute's database, processing publication orders, and proof reading documents. Eva was a great help in assisting the Institute team prepare for the International Conference, as well as being instrumental during registration. Eva worked on aspects of data base management, badge preparation, and a variety of other duties. She is now busy with post-conference responsibilities, including working on processing CEU information and evaluations. Eva is enthusiastic in helping out on any project the staff throws her way!

We are happy to have Eva on our team!

Five Wishes ~ Tool for Planning End of Life Care

Planning for end of life care is something best done in advance of a crisis or serious illness, in collaboration with one's family and health care providers. While many people consult an attorney to draft the necessary documents, check out the online tool, Five Wishes—available in 26 languages and Braille. This is a useful tool to start the conversation with loved ones to plan for end of life care. Five Wishes, which meets the legal requirements in many states for advanced directives and living wills, can be completed on screen and printed out to produce a personalized document. A pediatric version is also available. Five Wishes is a project of Aging with Dignity, a national non-profit organization with a mission to affirm and safeguard the human dignity of individuals as they age and to promote better care for those near the end of life. Learn more...