Healthcare Educational and Research Fund (on behalf of the Healthcare Association of New York State)

In the policy realm, it can be difficult for health care consumers to share their experiences, concerns, and proposed solutions with State decision-makers.

New York residents are the ones who ultimately pay for the cost of our health care system and bear the burden of its inadequacies. However, it is often the case that the interests of providers, payers, and other organized stakeholders take precedence over the patient. To ensure that New Yorkers have a stronger role in how health care is delivered and how health policy is made, NYHealth issued a request for proposals, Patients as Partners. Through this initiative, NYHealth is supporting projects that amplify the voice of New Yorkers and rebalance the health care system so that patients have more influence over their health and health care. In 2018, NYHealth awarded Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS) a grant to participate in this initiative.

Under this grant, HANYS partnered with Planetree to support a cohort of 12 hospitals across New York State to achieve Planetree designation, an intensive training and reorientation process that positions a hospital to be a leader in patient and family engagement and person-centered care practices. Planetree certification required hospitals to meet specific criteria, such as engaging patients in quality improvement efforts; including patients as board members; having a Patient and Family Advisory Council; including patients and families in shift communications and care planning; and honoring patient preferences for care during hospital stays. Hospitals were further required to demonstrate meaningful community partnerships that addressed transitions of care, avoidable readmissions, health literacy, and health disparities. Through intensive site visits, trainings, consultations, and peer learning opportunities, HANYS and Planetree ensured that more New York State hospitals had a pathway to person-centered care. Participating hospitals meaningfully partnered with patients as part of the co-design, ongoing quality monitoring, implementation, and evaluation on the path toward Planetree certification.

See a full list of Patients as Partners grantees.