A Health Care System with the Patient at the Center
Symposium Features Speakers at the Forefront
of Integrative Medicinal Practices
As thought-leaders in integrative medicine, Samueli Institute works to cultivate the concept that the needs of the patient become the primary focus of our current health care system. Samueli Institute engaged more than 150 participants over a two-day period with thorough discussions of the American health care system, specifically in regards to the patient experience in an effort to shift provider focus to the needs of the patient. It is through this shift that the health care system will improve as patients will take charge of their personal health.
Programing Provides a Comprehensive Look at Patient-Centered Care
Samueli Institute brought together health care and military thought-leaders to focus on the needs of individuals. Understanding how an individual experiences care sheds light on how we can improve health care. By simply asking questions and taking the time to listen to the answers, health care providers can gain a better sense of the needs of their patients. Through use of the Optimal Healing Environment framework, the Institute has created a system that emphasizes healing as an important and necessary path to holistic care. An Optimal Healing Environment is one that supports and stimulates patient healing by addressing the social, psychological, physical, spiritual and behavioral components of health care and enabling the body’s capacity to heal itself.
Patient-Centered Care is the Foundation of Health Creation
Facilitating a cure-based system and presenting it to leaders in the health care industry is just a first step toward change. By working with the patient to have more of an active role in their health and well-being, we will move to a health care system that is focused on preventative care rather than one that solely works to treat illness.
The emphasis should be more on promoting health and wellness, or salutogenesis, than on the diagnosis and treatment of disease processes, or pathogenesis. Education should include not only the development of key competencies but also the building of relationships and behavior skills.
It is through symposiums such as the Patient-Centered Care Conference and others hosted by Samueli Institute that we work to resolve core issues within our health care system. By fostering patient-provider relationships, patients will be empowered and the health care system will focus on the right people – the patients.
A Focus on the Right People – the Patients
To provide true patient-centered care, the health care system needs to transform focus. There is a need to create a national summit to address the health of the nation, including lifestyle, nutrition, financial and political support of health promotion, and the connection of the national health to national defense and economic health. Samueli Institute continues to work with its partners both within the health care and health policy spheres to effect national change.
Symposium Features Experts in the Field
Keynote Speakers – Carolyn Clancy, M.D.; Howard Gleckma
Patient-Centered Practice – William Miller, M.D., MA; Margo Karsten, PhD, RN
Patient-Centered Systems – Wayne Jonas, M.D.; Eric Schoomaker, M.D., PhD
Patient-Centered Education – Mary Jo Kreitzer, PhD, RN, FAAN; Robert Saper, MD, MPH
Patient-Centered Evidence – Jon Tilburt, M.D., MPH; Josephine Briggs, M.D.