To assist the Cayman Islands in formulating a plan to embrace a patient-centred care approach, healthcare strategist Dr. Richard Buck will address the annual 20/20 National Healthcare Conference.
Dr. Buck, who is based in St. Louis in the United States and who is one of the pioneers in the field of evidence-based medicine and patient-centre care, will be a speaker at the conference – an annual meeting of minds on the subject of healthcare.
“The concept of patient-centred care dates back to the ancient Greek healers who believed treatment of the ‘whole individual’ rather than a singular focus on disease treatment would yield better and lasting results,” Dr. Buck said.
This year’s conference is set to take place from 18 to 20 October at The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman. This year’s theme, “Patient-Centred Care: Achieving Quality Outcomes” will be exploring a concept that Cayman’s healthcare professionals hope to use as a foundation for every aspect of the service they provide.
In a speech during a media briefing to launch the conference earlier this year, Cayman Islands Health Minister Mark Scotland underlined the importance of placing patients at the centre of all aspects of healthcare when he said that the patient-centred approach was integral to the new objectives laid out by the board of the Health Services Authority.
Dr. Richard Buck, an independent organisational and healthcare strategist, from 2001 to 2004 served as the commanding officer of Naval Hospital Pensacola. During that time, the staff received numerous awards, including an award from the Picker Institute, as the United States’ most patient-centred hospital in continuity and transition of care. They were also the recipients of the Picker Institute International Symposium Institutional Award for Advancement of Patient-Centred Care.
Dr. Buck will discuss the concept of patient-centred care as it relates to leadership development, organisational and strategic issues, governance, quality improvement and evidence-based medicine, among other topics.
“During the past decade, the Picker Institute and its sister organisation, Picker Institute Europe, have promoted best practices that lead to the advancement of patient-centred care internationally,” he said.
Dr. Buck said the core principles of patient-centred care embrace concepts such as fast access to reliable health advice, effective treatment delivered by staff you can trust, involvement in decisions and respect for patients’ preferences and clear, comprehensible information and support for self-care. In addition, he explains, it also focuses on physical comfort and a clean, safe environment, empathy and emotional support, involvement of family and friends and support for careers and continuity of care and smooth transitions.
Measuring patients’ experience is also an integral part of making improvements to the system that will lead to properly embracing the concept of patient-centred care. The Cayman Islands healthcare service is already well on its way in tackling this challenge, as Minister Scotland detailed during the launch news conference when he said that a recent nationally representative survey found that 85 per cent of respondents rated the Health Services Authority’s service as either “good” or “excellent”.
“Of course, we always aim to do better,” he said.
Dr. Delroy Jefferson, medical director for the Health Services Authority and chief medical officer for the Ministry of Health, Environment, Sports, and Culture, explains that the HSA has embraced a collaborative care approach since January 2012, which is the foundation for establishing patient-centred care.
“It is very important to promote the continuum-of-care across the entire system for our patients, so everyone is focused on the patient’s unique needs and shares in the responsibility to deliver the best treatment possible,” he said.
He confirmed that the HSA is working with its physicians, dentists and support staff to implement systems that measure and improve patient outcomes, satisfaction with care, and cost-effectiveness of treatment.
Lizzette Yearwood, chief executive officer of the Health Services Authority, said the authority is proud to again be part of this year’s event, in partnership with the Ministry of Health and other important sponsors that include Tenet, Tower Marketing, the Chrissie Tomlinson Memorial Hospital, 21st Century Oncology, Johns Hopkins Medicine International, University of California-San Diego Health System, Jackson Memorial International, Simplifi, Sunshine Suites and the Caymanian Compass.
“We at the Health Services Authority are particularly excited at the prospect of hearing presentations from informed experts from overseas and also from experts based here in the Cayman Islands,” she said. “By pooling resources and learning from others’ experiences we have the chance to build a strong foundation for a first class health care service.”
This year’s theme for the 2012 National Healthcare Conference is especially timely, Dr. Jefferson said, because it brings together experts from around the world to share their experiences with patient-centred care systems that can help the Cayman Islands become the model for the Caribbean as a whole.
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