title: Patient-centered care: turning the rhetoric into reality.
abstract: Although patient-centered care (PCC) was proclaimed a core health system aim in a 2001 Institute of Medicine report, it remains one of the most-used and least-understood terms in healthcare. We interviewed leaders at 15 Medicare accountable care organizations (ACOs) across the country that have been the most successful in putting patient-centeredness into actual practice to develop an operational definition. The ACOs we spoke with had a 3-pronged practical approach of: 1) patients as partners, 2) proactive customer-service orientation, and 3) care coordination with a whole-person approach. We believe this framework can serve as a guide as the healthcare system moves "from volume to value" and a true partnership becomes increasingly critical both to patients and the healthcare system as a whole.
authors.affiliation: Center for Surgery and Public Health, Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 1620 Tremont St, Suite 4-020, Boston, MA 02120. E-mail: Jweissman@partners.org.
authors.forename: Joel S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Weissman
authors.forename: Michael L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Millenson
authors.forename: R Sterling
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Haring
mesh_terms: D060866:Accountable Care Organizations / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D006278:Medicare / Q000458:organization & administration*; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D058991:Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act / Q000458:organization & administration; D018802:Patient-Centered Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014481:United States