Patient and Family Engagement

Hospitals across the state and nation have made substantial progress in recent years incorporating patient and family engagement (PFE) as part of their organizational approach to attaining higher levels of patient satisfaction and outcomes.

Still, many hospitals are uncertain about how to envision or to optimize the role of PFE in safety and quality improvement design and seek support in learning and navigating the process.

Helpful resources have been compiled through the CMS Partnership for Patients and recently completed Hospital Improvement Innovation Network (HIIN). Contact KHC (785-235-0763) for additional information and individualized guidance.

Orientation Video Series for Patient and Family Advisors (PFAs)

The Kansas Healthcare Collaborative has developed a new Patient and Family Advisor Orientation video series resource that could be helpful to your PFA programs and Patient and Family Advisory Councils (PFACs).

The four animated videos are about 10 minutes each and are designed so that your hospital can incorporate them into your PFA/PFAC orientation programs. Most likely, these videos also would be worthwhile to view by your hospital staff members who also are working with PFAs.

The topics of the videos are:

PFAs and the changing culture of health care
Partnering across the organization
Communicating effectively as a PFA
Effectively sharing your story

The Five CMS Patient and Family Engagement Metrics

By partnering with patients, their families and other caregivers, hospitals can improve the quality and safety of health care, reduce costs, increase employee satisfaction and improve the patient experience. Helpful resources developed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) include:

Person & Family Engagement Strategy, 2016 (pdf)
Partnership for Patients Strategic Vision Roadmap for Person and Family Engagement (PFE): Achieving the PFE Metrics to Improve Patient Safety and Health Equity, revised October 2017 (pdf)

Since 2015, KHC has conducted numerous virtual and in-person learning events to enable Kansas hospital leaders to implement key PFE strategies to achieve patient- and person-centered care. The PFE metrics updated by CMS in 2020 are:

PFE Metric 1: Admission Planning Checklist
Using a planning checklist, the hospital prepares the patient for scheduled admissions (e.g., elective surgery) and at admission reviews the checklist with the patient and/or family.
PFE Metric 2: Discharge Planning Checklist
Using a discharge planning checklist, the hospital prepares patients and their families for a successful transition of care. The checklist is reviewed with the patient and/or family during the discharge process.
PFE Metric 3: Shift Change Huddle and Bedside Reporting
Shift change huddles with clinical team members and/or clinician rounds occur at the bedside and involve the patient and/or family
PFE Metric 4: Accountable PFE Leader
An employee (or employees) has been designated as responsible for PFE activities at the hospital either in a full-time capacity or as a percentage of time within their current position. Hospital staff and clinicians should be able to identify the person(s) responsible for PFE at the hospital.
PFE Metric 5: Active PFAC or Patient Representation on Committee
Patient and/or family representatives from the community have been formally named as members of the patient and family advisory council (PFAC) or hospital committee (e.g., quality committee, infection prevention committee, or safety committee).

In addition, KHC has conducted four breakthrough learning collaboratives with national faculty and many supportive resources to develop patient and family advisor (PFA) programs, including patient and family advisory councils (PFACs).

Visit our KHC Education Archive for recordings and handouts from previous learning events, including:

PFE -- Beyond the Metrics: Implementing PFE Strategies that Improve Quality and Safety (7/24/2019)
Featuring Tara Bristol Rouse, MA, Patient and Family Engagement Project Consultant, AHA Center for Health Innovation
- Webinar recording (fast forward to 21-min. mark)
- Presentation handout (PFE presentation starts at slide #22)
- Integrating PFE Strategies by Harm Topic handout (pdf)
A video recording of an in-person presentation: "A primer for Patient and Family Engagement," by Cheryl Ruble, MS, RN, CNS, improvement advisor, Cynosure Health, at the Kansas Hospital Engagement Network Collaborative Meeting, held in Topeka, Kansas, December 2013. Cheryl also presented during a recorded webinar in September 23, 2015 on PFE, especially the discharge planning checklist (PFE Metric #2). Download September webinar presentation handout (pdf).

During the HEN and HIIN initiatives, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and its National Content Developer conducted a national Master Class Series during the original Hospital Engagement Network in support of hospitals' focus on patient and family engagement. Those resources are no longer available online. Contact KHC if interested in receiving archived materials.