When hospitals engage patients and their family members, it can not only lead to an improved patient experience, but also can also help improve patient outcomes, among other benefits.
Because of these benefits, hospitals across the nation are focused on patient and family engagement, or PFE, but not much was known about how they are doing so. To solve this issue, researchers conducted a survey of 1,457 randomly chosen acute care hospitals asking them which of 25 PFE strategies and processes they have implemented.
The results of the survey were published in BMJ Quality & Safety.
The following are seven common engagement strategies being used by U.S. hospitals [Editor's note: Percentages were rounded to the nearest whole percent]:
- Written polices on patients' rights to identify which friend or family member they would like to have actively involved in their care: 88 percent
- Policy for unrestricted visitor access in at least some units: 86 percent
- At least sometimes employing the use of whiteboards in patients' rooms: 80 percent
- Providing decision aids to patients: 70 percent
- Encouraging patients and family to participate in nurse shift-change report (in some or all units): 68 percent
- Practicing teach-back with patients in at least some units: 68 percent
- Formal policies in place for disclosing and apologizing for medical errors: 67 percent
The study authors cautioned that there was no way in the survey to "capture the depth of hospitals' commitment to PFE. It is conceivable that a hospital has 'fully implemented' many of our 25 summary items but only in a cursory manner."
They concluded, "Efforts to promote these practices need to continue and be coupled with assistance to ensure that PFE activities are genuinely beneficial instead of simply perfunctory."
See the study for the full breakdown of common PFE strategies.