PATIENT-FOCUSED CARE - WHAT MANAGERS SHOULD KNOW

Implementation of PFC is considered a ''rational'' strategic choice in that it is thought to decrease the cost of providing health care whil e increasing the quality of services. Published research and evaluatio n studies that describe PFC are analyzed and the information is synthe sized in hopes of discovering and describing commonalties among defini tions, goals, and principles underlying PFC. The commonly accepted des cription of PFC is a model which ''seeks to integrate the organization 's values and culture with the operational excellence vision and proce sses to transform the institution into a customer-focused organization .'' Staff satisfaction is addressed by encouraging staff to plan and e xecute their clinical work in ways that are most responsive to patient needs. Grouping similar patients, bringing services closer to these p atients, and appropriate cross-training of multidisciplinary care prov iders to enhance continuity of care are seen as the four most common e lements described in most of the literature.