Background: Issues with the quality and safety of hospital care have been well-documented, and serve as the basis for improvement strategies and research. However, what is less understood are the perspectives of patients, families, caregivers, and other stakeholders regarding what they feel are the most important targets of improvement research. We systematically engaged a broad [...]

Background: Patient & Family Advisory Councils (PFACs) are groups of patients and caregivers who share their overall experiences of care and perspectives on specific topics with hospital leaders at regular meetings. PFACs provide a crucial supplemental layer of feedback to hospitals outside of HCAHPS survey data and post-discharge phone calls. Hospital Medicine specific PFACs are [...]

Background: Health research is rapidly evolving to include patient stakeholders (patients, families and caregivers) as active members of research teams. The proliferation of published frameworks describing the conceptual foundations underlying this engagement, and strategies detailing best practice activities to support this process has led to a diffusion of information. Therefore, the aims of this study [...]

Background: Sub-optimal discharge preparation during hospitalization may adversely impact safety and lead to a poor patient experience. As part of an AHRQ-funded study, we designed and developed interactive digital health tools (Figure 1) to engage patients and caregivers in self-assessing discharge preparedness: an educational video and 16-item discharge checklist addressing 4 domains (understanding the plan, [...]

Background: A vaso-occlusive episode (VOE) is a common complication of sickle cell disease (SCD). The most common presentation of VOE is pain that, if undertreated, can lead to life-threatening complications. Nearly all persons with SCD will have a VOE, however, data show that patients frequently receive inadequate analgesia when being treated for acute pain related [...]