Establishing and Guiding the Patient Advisory Council in a Primary Care Practice

Patient Advisory Councils (PACs) are becoming more common in hospitals, but seem to be less prevalent in primary care settings. Yet, as primary care practices move toward improved patient-centered care, obtaining patient input for practice decisions is a cornerstone of this goal.

Victoria Gersuk, Quality Initiatives Manager for the Colorado Community Health Network (CCHN), will speak at the next Ohio Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative (OPCPCC) patient engagement webinar to be held on May 23 at 12:15–1:00 p.m. ET, hosted by Health Services Advisory Group (HSAG).

Ms. Gersuk’s work in developing Patient Family Advisory Councils in four Colorado community health centers heavily influenced the creation of CCHN’s August 2015 Patient Engagement Toolkit, with support from Colorado Health Foundation and Kaiser Permanente Colorado. Ms. Gersuk will discuss the process that she and her colleagues used to secure buy-in from management, identify staff for the PACs, establish PAC scope, recruit patients, prepare meaningful agendas, engage patients, and build a feedback loop helping patients appreciate their impact.  While Ms. Gersuk’s work has focused on a council that is composed of adult patients, the methods are very similar for a council that would include parents of children in pediatric practices.

This webinar is part of a series of quarterly patient engagement webinars hosted by HSAG and the OPCPCC Center for Provider and Patient Engagement.  The webinar will begin with a half-hour presentation at 12:15 p.m. and will conclude with a 15-minute Q&A session.

Participation is limited to the first 150 who register.  Questions may be directed to PCMH@odh.ohio.gov or 614.644.9756. Register now! Download the event slides here.

Sample tools provided by our speaker, Ms. Gersuk, to assist you in building and guiding your PAC:

• Colorado Community Health Network Patient Engagement Toolkit (PDF)
• Facilitator's Notes from Victoria Gersuk (PDF)
• First PAC Meeting Curriculum (Word document)
• Implementation of the PAC Curriculum (Word document)
• PAC Implementation Guide Checklist (Word document)
• Community Health Clinic (CHC) PAC Announcement (Word document)
• Sustainability PAC Meeting Curriculum (Word document)
• Third PAC Meeting Curriculum (Word document)

Objectives

This webinar is recommended for primary care clinicians, practice managers, and all staff that have patient contact, as well as patients and caregivers.  By the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:

1. Indicate the purpose of a PAC and its role in helping improve care for patients.
2. Identify the initial steps to be taken in a medical setting to establish a PAC.
3. Apply the tiers of meaningful patient/family engagement.
4. Describe the most important components of an effective PAC meeting.
5. Construct an agenda that builds rather than suppresses patient/family engagement.
6. Explain the critical role of the “feedback loop,” and identify the feedback loop(s) to apply to the PAC’s recommendations.