A Health Care System Tailor-Made For Patients from H and H Networks

Incorporating patient perspectives into the design of health care delivery was one of the major themes of the recently concluded Institute for Healthcare Improvement 2011 National Forum in Orlando. The meeting marked the first time patients were on the IHI faculty, and session after session featured patients and advocates describing their firsthand experiences to an audience of hospital administrators and clinicians.

Of course, excellent patient care has always been the desired end result in health care — the hard part is delivering on that promise, and an emerging school of thought suggests that listening to patients is an essential part of achieving excellent outcomes. During a press briefing at IHI, Gary Kaplan, M.D., chairman and CEO of Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle, noted that his system puts patients at the top of its care "pyramid," and emphasizes listening to their stories as one way of meeting that goal.

"We asked [patients], how did it feel lying on stretcher outside the operating room?" Kaplan said.

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