What Is the Situation at Hand? Article Review Example

Health care providers are faced with many changes in the industry in recent years. One of the biggest of these changes is the move towards patient-centered care. The authors of this article discuss several specific ways that health care organizations can change the way they do things in order to focus more closely on patient-centered care.

Why is it going on?

One of the primary reasons that the patient-centered care movement is happening is that payments and reimbursements for health care providers are increasingly tied to measures of patient satisfaction and patient outcomes.

What is the relevance of the situation?

The move towards patient-centered care has an impact on patients and caregivers. According to the article, adopting a patient-centered approach to care can help create “engaged, empowered patients” who are well-equipped to make informed decisions about their own care. According to the article, patient-centered care “is associated with better health outcomes” for patients and can also help organizations lower costs and make their processes more streamlined and efficient. Patients who are well-informed are also more likely to assume responsibility for the overall management of their health. Eligibility for reimbursement for some Medicare programs is now tied to patient-centered care, which requires organizations to implement programs designed to improve patient engagement.

What can be done about it?

The article discusses ten ways that organizations can implement patient-centered care. These include adopting team-based approaches, providing evidence-based care, and targeting care to patient and community needs.  In one example, the authors discuss telehealth and telemonitoring programs that allow patients to assume responsibility for regularly checking and reporting health data (blood pressure, weight, etc).  Programs such as this can help promote patient engagement and lead to better outcomes for patients and more efficient treatments from health care organizations.