Photo by Sharon Renee Taylor Kenya Hunter, a family care coordinator, shares statistics with the new internal medicine Patient Family Advisory Council comprised of patients, family caregivers and staff during a meeting in the Walter Reed hospital Oct. 23.

Consisting of patients, family caregivers, physicians and staff members, the PFAC convened for its initial meeting in Ward 73 (Internal Medicine) Oct. 23.

It’s not the quality of care, it’s [about] the patient care experience,” explained Maj. Terri Holloway-Petty, head nurse of the medical intensive care unit, who helped establish the family centered care program here.

Civilian hospitals and other Army hospitals, including Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, Wash., and Blanchfield Army Community Hospital (BACH) at Fort Campbell, Ky., implemented the PFAC concept over the past few years with much success because the initiative brings doctors, patients and families together throughout each stage of medical care to share information and experiences.

A PFAC group at BACH helped to improve pharmacy access hours and delivery locations at the military treatment facility. At other hospitals, the PFAC enhanced the environment of care, improved patient privacy and created respite areas for staff.

“Patient and family centered care is working with patients and families, rather than doing to or for them,” Holloway-Petty said.

The new approach helps to, “Re-establish the focus of our energy where they always needed to be ó the patient and their family,” according to Fred Larson, the deputy commander for culture transformation for the Walter Reed Health Care System. Larson said the challenges at WRAMC are not unique to the military facility but the same faced by most civilian and military hospitals.

Kenya Hunter, a patient family care coordinator at Walter Reed, said statistics show everyone benefits at hospitals utilizing the patient, family centered approach. “The quality of care went up, [length of] hospital stays went down, medical errors went down ó it changed the whole environment.”

Organizers hope the ideas, suggestions and solutions from the new approach will provide “something that we as a group can utilize in day-to-day practice,” according to Marie Austin, the nurse practitioner who facilitated the internal medicine PFAC meeting.

Austin said the goal is to have patients and family members lead the meetings as they identify issues that impact not only patient care but the total experience for both patients and families while at the hospital. Staff members, who serve on the patient family advisory council’s steering committee, will present the groups ideas to the command group for review and implementation if warranted.

“The purpose of this is to make change,” Hunter told the patients at the Oct. 23 meeting. “This is your health council.”

“We want care that’s delivered comprehensively. We want care that shows respect and dignity for what we do, to the patient, to the providers, and to their families most of all,” Austin said.

“I’m so excited about this,” said Diana Raynor, a retired colonel who is both a patient and a caregiver for an elderly parent who also receives care at Walter Reed.

“I enjoy this committee because I’ve been taking care of my mom since 1998, and I watched my mother take care of my grandmother,” Raynor explained. “I thought that maybe by being a part of this committee I could make it better for some of our senior citizens or their caregivers taking care of them.”

Barbara Tyler, a beneficiary who participated in the first PFAC meeting at WRAMC said she joined the council to share input about the health care she receives from the internal medicine clinic. “I thought that my input could be beneficial,” Tyler explained.

Retired Col. Harry McCurdy, is also a member of the new council. He worked at Walter Reed nearly 40 years ago, and served as chief of the ears, nose and throat department for 10 years.

“I have enormous affection for Walter Reed hospital, and I want to continue to see it to be the best military hospital in the world,” McCurdy said.

Plans for the new initiative include establishment of PFACs throughout the hospital over the next two years and to identify new opportunities and develop strategies to integrate with PFACs that are forming at National Naval Medical Center at Bethesda, Md., when both medical centers will become the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in September 2011.