Partnering with Patients: South Huntington Creates Advisory Council

Kate O’Brien, Linda Jo Stern, MPH, and Stuart Pollack, MD, of Brigham and Women’s Advanced Primary Care Associates, South Huntington, are working to create a patient and family advisory council.

When Brigham and Women's Advanced Primary Care Associates opened in 2011, staff was charged with providing patient and family centered care through an innovative medical home model that provides team-based care. As the practice enters its second year, the staff is working to expand on their commitment to patient and family centered care by creating an advisory council of patients and family members. 

 "It's difficult for me, as a physician, to think like a patient," said medical director Stuart Pollack, MD. "Having a patient and family advisory council will help us talk with patients about what they want and need, rather than us, as care providers, implementing changes based on what we think they want or need." 

The council will also provide a sounding board for staff to obtain feedback from patients and families about upcoming practice changes that may enhance the care experience. Having the input of patients and families early in the process could help strengthen the proposed recommendations.

"An advisory council will help us meet our patients' needs, and open up the channels of communication so that patients can share their own ideas and suggestions on how we may take better care of them," said Linda Jo Stern, MPH, practice manager.

To begin the process of establishing a council, Kate O'Brien, project manager for Primary Care, coordinated a meeting of all staff at South Huntington to provide an open forum for explaining and exploring the concepts of patient and family centered care. At the meeting, staff divided into teams and brainstormed about which patients and family members meet the criteria to serve as an advisor.

O'Brien has created a charter for the council, and recruitment of council members is underway.

Pollack and Stern have created a culture of patient centered care in the South Huntington Medical Home. Through the use of a team approach for patient care and now the creation of a patient and family advisory council, this medical home will exemplify the importance of patient involvement.

For more information on how to develop a patient and family advisory council in your area, or to partner with patients and families in other ways, contact the Center for Patients and Families.