What matters most to patients in the acute care

One of the priorities for improving the quality of care is to make care more patient centred. Current acute medical practice focuses strongly on the medical diagnosis and treatment of the medical condition. Many of the conversations in these settings are about the patients and not actually with them. This medical focus often does not address the patient’s needs, values and preferences. It also provides little opportunity for patients and their loved ones to actively participate in designing a treatment plan with outcomes that are most relevant for them. A doctor’s focus is for example often on ‘treating the infection’, while the patient might be more concerned about ‘will I be able to be back at work next week?’

To illustrate, Lee at al. found that in only seven percent of patients with breast cancer avoiding mastectomy was the main priority, whereas medical doctors predicted this to be the main concern in more than seventy percent of their patients. These communication gaps may lead to poorly informed patients, doctors and suboptimal medical care. In some studies decisions on treatments choices have proven to change once a patient is well informed about the possibilities, risks and expectations of the treatment. Focusing more on what actually matters to patients may lead to better outcomes and patient satisfaction because it goes beyond the ‘sick role’ of the patient and contributes to patient involvement.

During a 50 hours flash mob, each participating hospital will approach all patients of 18 years and older who have been admitted with an acute medical condition.

Digital questionnaire