Patient Advisory Councils
At Augusta University Health, our primary missions are: patient care, education and research. This means we bring world-class clinicians, pioneering research, and the latest technologies and breakthroughs directly to you, right here in Augusta, Georgia.
Patient Advisory Councils
At Augusta University Health, our primary missions are: patient care, education and research. This means we bring world-class clinicians, pioneering research, and the latest technologies and breakthroughs directly to you, right here in Augusta, Georgia.
We realize that patient and family involvement helps us provide better care, which leads to better outcomes, wiser allocation of resources, and greater patient and family satisfaction. As a Patient- and Family-Centered Care organization, we acknowledge that families are the constant in the patient's life and that the family is essential for the complete healthcare team. We see our Patient and Family Advisors (PFA) as an extension of our staff.
The Patient and Family Advisory Councils (PFAC) advocate for patients and families by:
- Empowering patients and family members to be active participants in their care
- Contributing to the development of patient and family education and communication material
- Demonstrating mutual respect and open communication
- Participating in the development and planning of patient and family satisfaction initiatives
- Generating new program ideas to benefit patients, family members, and caregivers
Accomplishments:
- Create and perform Walkthrough Assessment questions and rounds - capturing a real time comprehensive view of the unit appearance, noise level, cleanliness, and feedback from patients and families on their experiences.
- Assist with planning and participation in annual PFCC Conference
- Collaborated with facilities in implementing new parking deck upgrades
- Initiation of No Show/Late cancellation PI project
- Help create discharge instructions to improve patient care
- Facilitate and present some of the PFCC Certificate courses
We utilize two different types of advisory councils. The organizational level councils (Health Partners Advisory Council, Medical Office Partners Advisory Council, and Family Advisory Council) assist with overarching goals which impact the entire health system. Some global goals consist of advisor walkthrough assessments, transition of care, patient admission, discharge planning, wayfinding, staff education, and patient experience process improvement. The remaining of the councils are departmental; each departmental level council is subset of an organizational council which focuses on the improvement of a specific department or unit.