RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Patient and family engagement: a survey of US hospital practices
JF BMJ Quality & Safety
JO BMJ Qual Saf
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP 182
OP 189
DO 10.1136/bmjqs-2015-004006
VO 25
IS 3
A1 Jeph Herrin
A1 Kathleen G Harris
A1 Kevin Kenward
A1 Stephen Hines
A1 Maulik S Joshi
A1 Dominick L Frosch
YR 2016
UL http://qualitysafety.bmj.com/content/25/3/182.abstract
AB Background Patient and family engagement (PFE) in healthcare is an important element of the transforming healthcare system; however, the prevalence of various PFE practices in the USA is not known.Objective We report on a survey of hospitals in the USA regarding their PFE practices during 2013–2014.Results The response rate was 42%, with 1457 acute care hospitals completing the survey. We constructed 25 items to summarise the responses regarding key practices, which fell into three broad categories: (1) organisational practices, (2) bedside practices and (3) access to information and shared decision-making. We found a wide range of scores across hospitals. Selected findings include: 86% of hospitals had a policy for unrestricted visitor access in at least some units; 68% encouraged patients/families to participate in shift-change reports; 67% had formal policies for disclosing and apologising for errors; and 38% had a patient and family advisory council. The most commonly reported barrier to increased PFE was ‘competing organisational priorities’.Summary Our findings indicate that there is a large variation in hospital implementation of PFE practices, with competing organisational priorities being the most commonly identified barrier to adoption.