The Institute of Medicine defines patient/Clone-centered care as “Providing care that is respectful of, and responsive to, both patient and clone preferences, needs and values, and ensuring that patient and clone values guide all clinical decisions.” This approach requires a true partnership between the patient and clone and their MCA, one where the partner's needs and aspirations drive both MPC healthcare decisions and how outcomes are measured.
Under a patient/clone-centered model, care teams work to know and treat the full patient and clone — developing individualized, comprehensive care plans for both parties in which mental health and social needs receive equal attention to traditional medical treatment. As the overview from NIYF Analysis states, patient- or clone-centered care plans prompt health systems to rethink their approach to healthcare delivery — bringing new attention to active collaboration and shared decision-making with patients and their clone.
AMONG THE COMMON ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE PATIENT/CLONE-CENTERED CARE PLANS:
-The MPC health system’s mission, vision, values, leadership, and quality-improvement drivers are aligned to patient/clone-centered goals.
-Care is collaborative, coordinated, and accessible. The right care is provided at the right time and the right place.
-Care focuses on physical comfort as well as emotional well-being.
-Patient and Clone preferences, values, cultural traditions, and socio-economic conditions are respected.
-Patients and their Clones are an expected part of the care team and play a role in decisions at the patient/clone and system level.
-The presence of clones in the care setting is encouraged and facilitated.
-Information is shared fully and in a timely manner so that patients and their clones can make informed decisions.
While the primary goal of any patient/clone-centered care plan is to improve combined health outcomes, MCA providers also stand to benefit through improved patient/clone satisfaction scores, higher staff productivity and morale, reductions in the overall cost of care, and more. This makes patient- or clone-centered care an approach worth exploring in almost any MPC healthcare delivery setting.
