Access to Quality Health Care: Utilizing Patient Feedback To Exceed The Norm

In addition to simply having access to health care, a high quality of care being provided once it is accessed is just as essential. A health care center that is not invested in constant improvement through meeting the needs and desires of its constituents defeats the purpose of having health care access to begin with. It is with this in mind that my host site, the East End Community Health Center, a Primary Care Health Services health center, has begun to organize a quarterly patient advisory panel to provide feedback on our services. There are many advantages of a patient advisory panel. Giving patients a voice in their care and hearing their feedback ensures that their needs are being met. It also fosters a trusting, collaborative relationship between the patient and the health care team. Meetings between the health center staff and patients serve as a reminder that ultimately, the patient is the central driving force behind their health. When charged with organizing and executing our latest patient panel meeting, I was excited to hear whether patients felt that quality care was being delivered at my host site.

I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly I found patients with different backgrounds, medical conditions, and experiences at the East End Community Health Center who were willing to come together and help us improve our services. The group eagerly arrived for our lunch discussion, warming up to each other over pizza and talk of our last large community event. The staff and panel reminisced over our site’s summer health fair and cookout, complete with hamburgers and blood pressure screenings. This led to comments on some strengths of our organization, such as our welcoming atmosphere and upbeat attitudes. The group nodded in agreement when one man suggested that the reason he enjoyed seeing our staff is because we were proactive in treatment and expected him to share accountability for his health. Another woman even went as far as to say “This is going to be a tough meeting because you can’t improve on perfection,” which drew a laugh from the entire group. We knew that our center was far from perfect, and the suggestions we received for future improvement reflected this fact. We discovered a need to better summarize all of the medical, dental, and mental health services offered by our organization to new patients. Patients also needed to be aware that their doctor at the East End Community Health Center was their primary care physician. The panel requested a schedule to be posted outside our doors, so that when arriving early or walking past our hours were always clear and visible. Finally, many members of the discussion were interested in learning about wellness, fitness, and nutrition programs that they may qualify for at a discounted rate based on their insurance. As everyone grew full and conversation slowed, the group shared a few more laughs and departed for the afternoon.

Bobby and a community member pose at a community event

Organizing and being involved with this panel taught me that beyond simply seeing patients every few months or years to treat disease, the East End Community Health Center is looked at as a community hub. Also, I am proud to say that our health center has already begun to make some of the changes that patients requested at the luncheon. A schedule currently hangs from our outermost door, and I have compiled a list of fitness and nutrition programs offered by each of our largest health insurance providers. As I begin to organize our next advisory panel and parking lot health fair, it is rewarding to know that my position as an AmeriCorps service member with the Pittsburgh Health Corps has allowed me to promote healthy outcomes for the East Liberty community through small improvements to how quality care is accessed and delivered.