Person and Family Engagement and Health Equity

Developed by American Institute of Research (AIR) in partnership with IPRO HQIC

Person and family engagement (PFE) is recognized by the Centers
for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) as a promising way to
address health and health care disparities and achieve equity in
quality and safety. Applying PFE equitably means including
patients and families from all backgrounds as equal and active
partners in their health care. Doing so can help ensure that all
patients reap the benefits of engagement in their healthcare.

Health Disparities Road Map

Developed by American Institute of Research (AIR) in partnership with IPRO HQIC

This resource discussed how Person and Family Engagement can help hospitals achieve health Equity in Health Care Quality and Safety.

The American Institutes for Research (AIR)—a partner in the IPRO HQIC program—identified six overarching strategies to guide hospitals in meaningfully engaging patients and families in health care. This document describes how to apply these strategies in ways that can help hospitals achieve equity in care quality and safety and address barriers to uniform engagement.

Person and Family Engagement Implementation Guides for Hospitals

Developed by the American Institute of Research (AIR) in partnership with IPRO HQIC

This resource provides hospital leaders and staff with practical, step-by-step guidance to successfully implement the 5 PFE Best Practices in the CMS-funded Hospital Quality Improvement Contract (HQIC) program. Each guide walks the user through the definition of the PFE Practice, the intent of the Practice, the benefits of partnering with patients and families to increase safety in the hospital setting, concrete examples from the field, and a list of resources to support implementation. These guides are meant to be a supplement to the Hospital Roadmap for Person and Family Engagement.

Guide Practice 1 Preadmission Planning Checklist

Guide Practice 2 Discharge Planning Checklist

Guide Practice 3 Shift Change Huddles and Bedside reporting

Guide Practice 4 Designated PFE Leader

Guide Practice 5 PFAC or Representatives on Hospital Committee

All-Cause Harm Resource

This resource explains what All-Cause Harm is, why it is important and then dives into each of the processes it takes to prevent All-Cause Harm. Eight priority focus areas for the Hospital Quality Improvement Contract (HQIC) are illuminated and strategies to monitor compliance are provided.

All-Cause Harm Resource, Recording and Slides from the IPRO HQIC All-Cause Harm “launch” on March 29th, 2021.

The Importance of a PFAC at a Critical Access Hospital

American Institutes for Research

To motivate senior leaders at rural and critical access hospitals to create and engage Patient- and Family-Engagement Councils (or PFECs), the American Institutes for Research in the Behavioral Sciences (AIR) created a video testimonial with comments from the CEO, COO, PFEC staffer and patient representative at a critical access hospital in Truckee, CA on the benefits of a PFEC This 3.5 minute video was created as part of AIR’s Patient- and Family-Engagement efforts with the Hospital Improvement Innovation Networks (HIINs) in collaboration with the Health Services Advisory Group (HSAG) HIIN.