Patient Advisor Program

Partnering with patients and families is a core tenet of the Medical College of Georgia's patient- and family-centered care (PFCC)philosophy. Patient, family and provider partnerships are evident at the bedside, in the ambulatory care clinics, in conference rooms and in classrooms.

These partnerships benefit students, faculty, campus staff and hospital/clinic staff, as well as patients and their families. Quite simply, involving patients and families improves the quality of care. Adding the patient's perspective to health professions education and training enhances the student's perspective.

Patient Advisors  

MCG cultivates a robust volunteer patient advisor program with 237active patient advisors as of June 2008. Advisors are attached to departments throughout the Children's Medical Center and the adult hospital and all ambulatory care clinics. There are currently 80 patient advisors affiliated with the clinics.

The relationships and roles of patient advisors are diverse and continue to expand at MCG and nationally. An advisor is "any role or activity that enables families to have direct input and influence on policies, programs, and practices affecting care and services for patients and families" according to the Institute for Family-Centered Care. 

At MCG patient and family involvement extends beyond shared decision-making about care and discharge planning. The patient's point-of-view is incorporated into the planning and design of the physical environment and our services.

Examples include:

• the patient's input is part of designing the new dental school and the cardiovascular center
• the redesign of the Physicians' Practice Group's invoice
• the development of a PFCC Conference agenda
• PFCC research using an electronic personal health record (ePHR)

National Role

At a national level, MCG patient advisors are contributing to discussions about integrating patient- and family-centered care into graduate medical education through roundtable discussions sponsored by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). They have also presented at major national meetings such as the American Board of Internal Medicine's (ABIM) Summer Forum in 2007 and upcoming in 2008. Nettie Engels, patient advisor, presented at the ABIM's 2007 event From Forum to Function Bringing Care Coordination Home.

Participation

To participate as advisors, patients and their families are recommended by unit or clinic staff through a referral to the Family Services Development at MCG Health Inc. Patient advisors have many opportunities to be engaged and to inform us:

• committee advisors - short-term or long-term
• advisory councils
• family faculty
• supporting roles

 

Family Faculty 

 

 

Patients and family members lend a unique perspective as they help teach current and future health professionals. They give a personal face to different medical conditions, chronic illnessess and disabilities by sharing their personal stories and experiences.

 

 

The MCG Family Faculty Program was established to:

• utilize consumer experts to enlighten students about issues involved in living with a chronic condition
• create awareness of resources to meet the needs of patients with disabilities or chronic conditions
• encourage students to adopt the family-centered care philosophy as they move forward in their education and health care career

Roles

As a resource to MCG instructors and students Family Faculty participate in health professions education in several ways:

• panel discussion
• speaking in the classroom
• orientation for new students, faculty or staff
• LIFE (Learning in Family Environments) Program - students learn about the impact of a medical condition on the family by being in the patient's own home environment
• question and answer sessions
• PFCC Learning Labs
• conference presentations - local, national and international conferences
  

For More Information

The general public an contact Family Services Development at MCG Health Inc., at 706-721-6838 (Ashley Hodge-Brown) or 706-721-4790 (Bernard Roberson) for more information about the patient advisor program.

Resources For MCG Instructors Only

The Family Faculty Directory is for use by instructors at the Medical College of Georgia. Information about the families in the directory is not to be copied or distributed without written permission of the family/families involved.

MCG instructors can obtain a Family Faculty Directory from the Family Services Development office or access the password protected Family Faculty Directory on-line version.

 

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