Patient Centered Care concentrates on sharing care responsibility between patient and providers. Characteristics include:

Empowering the patient by:

• Providing resources and tools necessary for patient education
• Involving the patient and family in the medical decision making process
• Managing at-home care and monitoring
• Meeting the individualized needs and preferences
• Making collaborative informed decisions among patients and medical team members

Developing healthcare facilities that are patient and family focused:

• Single patient and visitor customer service area including information, lounges, amenities, and registration
• Simple, and patient and family friendly, layouts
• Flow patterns organized to minimize inefficiencies and maximize clinical quality
• Functions like registration, clinics and imaging co-located and easily accessible to customers

PDA began leading Patient Centered Care delivery in rural health clinics that integrated medical, behavioral, and home care for small communities in the 1980’s. Since then, PDA has been instrumental in proposing major cultural changes within healthcare institutions. PDA is a member of the Patient Centered Primary Care Collaborative (PCPCC), an organization working to develop and advance the patient centered medical home (PCMH) model.