The IOM and 6 Aims for Improvement - Patient Centered

Aim #3: Care should be PATIENT-CENTERED, respectful of and responsive to individual patient preferences, needs, and values and ensuring that patient values guide all clinical decisions.


Enough said, right?

But very few organizations actually can demonstrate a committment to patient centered care from the board room to the wash room and from the moment before a prospective employee is hired until they retire from the job. Human nature places us in the not so delicate balance between our own desires and wishes and those of the patient.


A great practical success story for patient centered care is the Woodwinds Health Campus in Woodbury Minnesota. Now 6 years old, the campus has maintained an unbelievably strong committment to putting the patient first. For the most part, the CEO and her leadership team are still 'in tact' and just as firmly committed to patient focused care as they were when the mission and guiding focus were established.

I had the pleasure of spending some time with the Woodwinds group this past summer. From the introduction, through the visit and from first hand observations, they have worked carefully to weave the concept of patient centered care into daily worklife and daily experience for the patients.

It shows!