June 2016 Editorial: From the Editor’s Desk

In one sense, the movement for Patient Engagement has been tremendously successful.  Key elements like shared decision making, co-production of care, and patient data portals are almost ubiquitous.  Clinicians increasingly seem to value patient engagement, healthcare executives are realizing its importance, and quite a bit of money is being spent on technology to support it.  The movement for Person- and Family-Centered Care, a close cousin of the E-Patient movement, is a bandwagon with countless riders.  These movements are even gaining various forms of legislative support. In another sense, these movements are struggling.  At their core is a vision for a collaborative partnership between the healthcare professional and their patient.  In this vision each brings to bear distinct assets to the task of improving the latter’s health, and together they produce better, more reliable outcomes than are realized in the classic professional model where the patient’s role is deferential execution of orders.  In my experience over the past four years managing the care of a medically complex child, I’ve collaborated with hundreds of professionals in multiple centers and found that the classic professional model is still alive and well under a fresh coat of patient-centered paint. My sense is that most of the energy going into these movements is producing ornamental changes and disseminating awareness that at the end of the day leaves virtually unscathed the most important t...
Source: Society for Participatory Medicine - Category: Journals (General) Authors: Tags: Editorial Newsletter june editorial Patient Data Patient engagement shared decision making tyson ortiz Source Type: news