lunes, 5 de diciembre de 2016

New From AHRQ - Be Prepared to be Engaged: A Patient-Based Intervention Strategy for Primary Care

New From AHRQ - Be Prepared to be Engaged: A Patient-Based Intervention Strategy for Primary Care
AHRQ_Be Prepared to be Engaged

Patients and their families who arrive well-prepared to primary care visits are more likely to have important questions and concerns addressed by their health care team. Evidence suggests that engaging patients and families in discussions about their care leads to significant improvements in patient safety, care quality and patient experience. AHRQ’s new Be Prepared to be Engaged strategy, part of the agency’s Guide to Improving Patient Safety in Primary Care Settings by Engaging Patients and Families, features strategies for patients to prepare for primary care visits and improve the likelihood of leaving their visit with an understanding of their diagnosis and care plan, all of which can improve patient safety.

Patient and Family Engagement in Primary Care

Research shows that when patients are engaged in their health care, it can lead to measurable improvements in safety and quality. To promote stronger engagement, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is developing a guide to help patients, families, and health professionals in primary care settings work together as partners to promote improvements in care.

Interventions

The Guide to Improving Patient Safety in Primary Care Settings by Engaging Patients and Families is a compilation of evidence-based best practices for improving patient safety through patient, family, and caregiver engagement. This comprehensive guide provides primary care practices with four strategies that they can adopt to improve patient safety. A practice may choose to adopt one or all of the strategies. The four strategies and the materials to support adoption of each are:

Teach-Back

Teach-back is a technique for health care providers to ensure that they have explained medical information clearly so that patients and their families understand what is communicated to them. This intervention includes several materials to support adoption:

Teach-Back Implementation Quick Start Guide (available in full page and brochure format) (PDF File, 429 KB)
Teach-Back Interactive Learning Module for Clinicians and Practice Staff (Flash)
Teach-Back Clinician Job Aid (full page) (PDF File, 38 KB) and Teach-Back Clinician Job Aid (4x6 pocket card) (PDF File, 68 KB)
Teach-Back: A Guide for Staff (poster/handout format) (PDF File, 384 KB)
A Patient’s Guide to Teach-Back (poster/handout format) (PDF File, 1.3 MB)
Teach-Back Conviction and Confidence Scale (PDF File, 441 KB)
Are You Using Teach-Back? Survey (PDF File, 153 KB)

Additional AHRQ resources on Teach-Back include:

Use the Teach-Back Method, Tool 5 of the AHRQ Health Literacy Universal Precautions Toolkit
Using the Teach-Back Technique from the SHARE Approach Toolkit, which contains resources on shared decisionmaking

Be Prepared To Be Engaged

This toolkit will help patients and their families prepare for and become more fully engaged in their medical appointments—to be ready for the appointment, to speak up, to ask questions, to take notes. Tools are also available for clinicians and practice staff to encourage and reinforce patient preparation and engagement. Materials for this intervention are expected to be released in November or December 2016.

Patient Prep Card (PDF File, 194 KB)
Patient Note Sheet (PDF File, 196 KB)
Be Prepared Patient Information Poster (PDF File, 517 KB)
Be Prepared Staff Information Poster (PDF File, 2 MB)
Be Prepared Clinician Information Poster (PDF File, 2 MB)
Be Prepared Quick Start Guide (letter size [PDF File, 483 KB] and brochure size [PDF File, 366 KB])

Medication Management

Medication management is a strategy for engaging with patients and caregivers to create a complete and accurate medication list using the brown bag method. A complete and accurate medication list is the foundation for addressing medication reconciliation and medication management issues. These tools will also help to identify risks for an adverse drug event, such as overdosing, underdosing, or missing medications, or other important contextual factors limiting adherence. Materials for this intervention are expected to be released in January or February 2017.

Warm Handoff

A warm handoff is a transfer of care from one clinician to another, where the handoff occurs in front of the patient and family. This transparent handoff of care allows patients and families to hear what is said between clinicians and engages patients and families in communication, giving them the opportunity to clarify or correct information they provided or ask questions about their care. Materials for this intervention are expected to be released in March or April 2017.