The DHM PFAC is a dedicated group of patients and caregivers who meet monthly to provide input and perspectives to help inform DHM’s clinical, quality improvement (QI), research, and medical education projects and initiatives.
All PFAC members have personal experience receiving care on our hospital medicine services, either as patients or as the loved ones/advocates of patients. They are highly motivated to create change by partnering with members of the DHM and UCSF Health. The DHM PFAC, established in 2018, is currently the only inpatient focused advisory council, and is a powerful resource for ensuring that our work within DHM remains patient centered.
PFACs are one specific model for patient engagement. We acknowledge the limitations of one council in representing all the voices of our hospitalized patients. However, we have prioritized diversifying our advisory council to better reflect the diversity of the patients that we serve. We currently have 17 members (5 who have been recruited this calendar year). We continue to work with UCSF Health Experience on new models and strategies to bolster community engagement and ensure equity in patient experience.
In our February PFAC meeting we had an open discussion so that members could express identified pain points and priorities for improvement. We wanted to share these topics in the Quality Post to foster further discussion and as potential opportunities for new QI projects and further engagement with the PFAC.