Research

The Center for Patient- and Family-Centered Care (CPFCC) is committed to conducting and supporting research that broadens opportunities to build patient-provider partnerships, strengthens health care quality, expands understanding of the impact PFCC has on patient safety and care quality, and increases students' knowledge and practice of PFCC. The Center is engaged in several research initiatives and endorses other MCG efforts that compliment and build patient- and family-focused care.

In addition, nationally, there is growing interest in engaging patients/consumers in designing, developing, and participating in research. A basic premise of this approach is that clinical research involving patients should also include their perspectives, and that they should not only be informed of the results but also be engaged in disseminating the results.

PFCC Research Interest Group

Interested students, faculty and staff convene once a quarter to learn about PFCC-related research taking place on the MCG campus and beyond. The research interest group sessions offer an opportunity to interact with others who are expanding PFCC scholarship and research. All five schools at MCG - Allied Health Sciences, Dentistry, Graduate Studies, Medicine and Nursing- are represented.

To learn more about the PFCC Research Interest Group contact comeara@mcg.edu.

Upcoming Sessions

A new PFCC Research Interest Group session will be scheduled in September 2009

Presentation Archives

April 29, 2009

Kevin Bradford, M.L.S.

Assistant Professor, Clinical Information Librarian

Topic: Patient Participation in Evidence-Based Health Care
View this presentation.

A new term is on the medical horizon: “Patient Empowerment.” Consumer access to medical research brings new expectations and concerns (e.g., where to look for and how to evaluate content).  Evidence-Based Practice directly impacts the literature used to support clinical decision-making as well as the decisions consumers make about their health care.  Thus, the ready availability of healthcare information requires that:

• New criteria be developed for helping patients and families become more health information literate
• A new format devoted to translating and presenting systematic research be made accessible in a language appropriate for the general public

Patient-and-Family-Centered Care core concepts help to create the necessary environment for change: both at the research level and at the bedside.

  January 14, 2009
  David Haburchak, MD

  Medical Director of the MCG Physician's Assistance Program
  Program Director of the MCG Internal Medicine Residency Program  

  Topic: VA Educational Innovation Project on Patient-Centered and Value-Based Care

 

  November 5, 2008

  Alex Mabe, PhD
  MCG Department of Psychiatry and Health Behavior

  Topic: Project GREAT: Immersing Academic Medical School Practitioners in the Recovery Model of Care

View Dr. Mabe's Project GREAT presentation.

July 9, 2008 - Barbara Brumbaugh, MPH

Topic: Patient- and Family-Centered Care, Quantifying the Results: A Comparison Study of Intensive Care Units at an Academic Medical Center

March 17, 2008 - Laura Stepleman, PhD

Topic: Patient-Centered Psychological Care Model in Chronic Disease

November 19, 2007

Christine O'Meara, MA, MPH - Update on the Interdisciplinary Course: Safety, Patient- and Family-Centered Care
Peggy Wagner, PhD and Pat Sodomka - Use of an Electronic Personal Health Record to Empower Patients with Hypertension

Adeline Deladisma, MD - Virtual Patient

Logic Model

In the spring of 2007, Dr. Judith Hibbard, Professor Department of Planning, Public Policy and Management at the University of Oregon, engaged MCG faculty and administration in an assessment process to ascertain how patient- and family-centered care could be integrated across campus. The introspective and prospective planning process resulted in a PFCC Logic Model that outlined proximal outcomes for patients, families and clinical teams and identified overall health outcomes for patients and their families.

 

PFCC Culture Survey

PI: Pat Sodomka, FACHE and Peggy J. Wagner, PhD

Project Period: 2005; 2008

Source: MCG Health Sciences University

A Patient- and Family-Centered Care Institutional Culture Survey, designed to assess institutional acceptance of PFCC practices, was initially developed and administered through the Office of Decision Support and is currently administered as a part of an Agency for Health Care Research and Quality (AHRQ) funded research project (described below).

The survey measures both personal philosophies and perception of an institution's incorporation of PFCC principles. These principles include: dignity and respect, information sharing, participation, and collaboration.

A comparison of responses from MCG staff, faculty, residents, and students within the three entities that comprise the Medical College of Georgia complex: the health sciences university, the hospitals (MCG Health Inc.) and the Physicians Practice Group (PPG) completing the survey in 2005 and 2008, is conveyed in poster form.

The poster entitled "Initial Development of the Patient- and Family-Centered Care Institutional Culture Survey" will be presented at the AHRQ Annual Conference "Promoting Quality-Partnering for Change" September 7-10, 2008 in Bethesda, MD. Authors include: Peggy J. Wagner, PhD, Pat Sodomka, MHA, Jim Dias, PhD, Mickey Williford and Roman Cibirka, DDS. 

PFCC Research

Improving Patient Rounds (IPR):Patient- and Family-Centered Care Rounds "Takes On" Academic Bedside Rounds

PI: Walter J. Moore, MD and Peter F. Buckley, MD

Project Period: July 2008 - June 2009

Source: Picker Institute

Grant Number: Picker Institute Challenge Grant #18

In July 2008, The Medical College of Georgia received a Picker Institute Challenge Grant,

one of four awarded from a pool of over 100 applicants. The challenge grant represents a collaboration between the Picker Institute and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).

This one-year quality improvement project addresses the fundamental challenge of making patient bedside rounds more patient-centered and accessible to families. Following planning focus groups representative of all constituents including patient advisors, a PFCC educational program will be developed for faculty, residents and staff assigned to general medicine service for nine months. The PFCC rounds will be introduced into the surgery unit after implementation in medicine. Written guidelines for conducting PFCC rounds will be disseminated.

Unique to this study is the involvement of patient advisors, not only as a member of the project team assisting with planning and development of the project, but also in orientation and training members of the participating health care team and in the application of PFCC rounds. Trained patient advisors observers will join the Red Team during rounds to observe the care team/patient/family interactions, record their observations of using a PFCC Rounds Checklist, and debrief the interdisciplinary teams of attending physicians, residents, students, nurses, case managers, social workers and other allied health professionals assigned to the Red Team patients. Patient advisors will also participate in the dissemination of study findings.

Specific Aims: We anticipate PFCC rounds will be more in sync with the patient's physical and emotional needs resulting in:

• more coordinated care and direct quality contact time 
• improved timeliness/effectiveness of hospital discharges 
• shorter lengths of stay
• fewer medication errors
• greater satisfaction among patients, family members and healthcare teams
• improved assessments of medical student and resident performances in areas of interpersonal and communication skills, and professionalism

 

Electronic Personal Health Record (ePHR)

PI: Pat Sodomka, FACHE and Peggy Wagner, PhD

Project Period: September 2007 - 2010

Source: Agency for Health Care Research and Quality (AHRQ)

Grant Number: HS 17234

The three-year AHRQ clinical trial examines the impact of a PFCC oriented ePHR on the management of chronic disease. Researchers will study the feasibility, acceptability and impact of a PFCC modified ePHR. The intervention group, patients using the PFCC ePHR, will be compared to patients receiving standard care.

Hundreds of MCG patients with hypertension participating in the study will be able to post their blood pressure, weight and dietary information into their medical record. They will be able to e-mail their physicians when needed.

Unique to the study design is the incorporation of PFCC principles such as extensive patient participation in technology design, development of study methods and qualitative discussions.

Specific Aims:

• To improve the application of patient- and family-centered care elements in an existing ePHR, based on feedback from a pilot study of patients and their families. Hypertension patients and their families will pilot test the modified ePHR.
• A team of physicians, mid-level practitioners, nurse clinicians and support staff in two ambulatory settings will implement and test the effectiveness of the PFCC modified ePHR with patients undergoing treatment for hypertension.
• Monitor changes in provider and support staff awareness and incorporation of patient- and family-centered care resulting from use of the ePHR.

Additional Resources:

To learn more about the changing face of medicine using an ePHR:

• attend an on-line lecture by guest lecturer Dr. Ted Eytan
• review the MCG AHRQ electronic Personal Health Record study abstract on the AHRQ web site

 

Evidence Based Design

Project Period: 2007 - 2008

Source: MCG Health Inc

The Medical College of Georgia is nationally recognized for creating facility designs that nourish and support collaboration in patient/caregiver relationships in adult and children’s clinical programs.

Contracting with the College of Architecture at Georgia Institute of Technology through the expertise of Craig Zimring, PhD and architectural graduate student, Bo Seo, resulted in a scientific study of space utilization. This is a preliminary step to physical environment redesign.

A space utilization comparison in two adult care hospital units, Neurology Intensive Care Unit (Neuro ICU) and the Shock Trauma Intensive Care Unit (Shock Trauma ICU) was recently completed. The purpose of the study was to measure the impact of design on patient care and safety. Study results will aid in the redesign and reconstruction of the Neuro ICU and future projects.

 

 

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