Patient-centric is not a buzz phrase. When using telehealth it is important for providers to understand a “Patient-Centric method.” The patient-centric method is the manner in which health care systems can begin partnerships between practitioners, patients, and their families to align choices with patients’ desires, needs, and likings. Patient-centric providers have tools (e.g., decision making, feedback loops, multiple stage care plans, plus easy patient access and control of records), are able to attain and provide key data, and are focused 100% on patients. More and more providers are recognizing that patient-centricity means that providers must be:
Patient-driven: Patients’ aims, penchants, and priorities determine what is measured and the manner in which performance is assessed.
Holistic: Measurement identifies that patients are people and take into account the patients’ situations, living and health histories, in addition to encounters within and outside of the health care system.
Transparent: Patients should have an avenue to retrieve the same information as other stakeholders and comprehend the way data is utilized to inform decision-making regarding care practices and policies.
Comprehensible and timely: Patients and other key interested parties should have timely, easy-to-comprehend data in order to get to an informed decision in addition to quality improvement.
Co-created: Patients should be equal partners in measure development with health care professionals, as well as have the right to make decisions about the way information is collected, reported, and utilized.
Author: Dr. Clishia Taylor and Dr. Sharon Burton “ Certified Telemedicine Telehealth Course Manual.” 2018 pg. 22