Putting Patients in Their Place…at the Center of Emergency Care

October 2, 2024

Written by Chris Thom

Spoon Feed
In the complex world of modern medicine, it often requires purposeful thought and action to place our patients at the center of the care process. This study serves to remind us how to employ evidence-based patient-centered care during the course of emergency medicine (EM) practice. 

Patients matter
This study involved the creation of an expert panel of 10 individuals with experience in patient centered care. These individuals performed a literature review of relevant studies that explored patient centered care strategies. They then engaged with key stakeholders in Canada on patient centered care and solicited comments at the 2023 Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians conference.

Key recommendations are presented from this work. This includes the importance of the physical environment, with attention paid to variables that allow for patient understanding of the geographic footprint. In addition, avoidance of patient facing signage pertaining to operation specific language such as “rapid evaluation area” should be practiced. The authors highlight the importance of ongoing communication throughout the emergency department journey, to include a focus on clear discharge planning and patient understanding at the conclusion of the visit. The authors expand on the importance of patient feedback in monitoring quality and effectiveness of patient care delivery. This includes novel patient-reported experience measures and patient-reported outcome measures.       

How will this change my practice?
This paper serves as a reminder of why many physicians made the decision to pursue a career in EM. Many of us could have pursued an easier path within medicine that focuses more on science or procedural practice. While emergency medicine does feature both, it also features a significant focus on the human experience during a time of great distress or difficulty. This innately leads to an environment where human factors and vulnerability play an outsized role. It affords us a position where we can uniquely impact our fellow humans on a different level than many medical pursuits. Putting the patient back at the center of that care delivery is key to ensuring the success of these efforts in emergency medicine.

Source
Recommendations for patient-centered emergency care. CJEM. 2024 Aug;26(8):513-519. doi: 10.1007/s43678-024-00706-3. Epub 2024 Jun 21. PMID: 38904747.