The Difference Between Patient-Centered and Patient-Centric Care Explained By Healthcare Development Company

In an effort to help medical facilities provide more effective treatment, healthcare architecture firms, Simone Healthcare Development, explains the difference between patient-centered and patient-centric care.

The healthcare industry has advanced a great deal in recent years, and these leaps in knowledge and technology have started to change the way many providers and patients are approaching medical treatment. Patient-centered and Patient-centric care both have their strengths and weaknesses, but the industry as a whole continues to move toward the latter.

Discussed below are the differences between these two treatment philosophies and how they could change the way that facilities approach development and policy.

Patient-Centered Care

Patient-Centered care has been the traditional treatment format for many years, focusing on the physician’s authority as the driving factor behind medical decisions.

For the majority of modern history, medical care was handled almost entirely by a primary care physician. Although there is a push in the industry for patients to better engage with general practitioners, the fact of the matter is that patient care is often fragmented across many different specialists that may have minimal contact overal.

This lack of communication can be an issue when it comes to providing effective and comprehensive treatment for medical issues, as doctors may often not have the full picture of the patient’s medical history and collaboration with other doctors. Physicians make decisions with their patients’ best interests in mind, but without comprehensive knowledge, their ability to guide care has become more limited. It’s for this reason that patient-centric care has become more common – valuing the patient’s knowledge of their needs and values working in tandem with their practitioners’ expertise.

Patient-Centric Care

Now, more than ever before, patients are becoming a valuable authority regarding treatment for themselves. Medical facilities are starting to realize that the holes in their physicians’ understanding of the patient’s wants and needs have negatively affected outcomes – placing a renewed importance on the patient’s knowledge of their health and overall well-being.

In addition to coordinating care among multiple practitioners and facilities over time, patients also have an idea of their values and desired outcomes with treatment. While in the past, physicians may have made important decisions on their own, the modern healthcare field has made the treatment process a collaboration rather than a dictation.

Moving forward, patients themselves will become the go-to for information about their health and will be the catalyst for their treatment.

Source: HREI