Crossing the Patient-Centered Divide: Transforming Health Care Quality Through Enhanced Faculty Development

In the report "Crossing the Quality Chasm," the Institute of Medicine asserted that patient-centered care is one of the six domains of quality. In this article, the authors consider how the patient-and relationship-centered components of quality can be achieved in all aspects of medical care. They suggest that faculty development in three key areas-mindful practice, formation, and training in communication skills-is necessary to achieve patient-and relationship-centeredness. The authors first review the philosophical and scientific foundations of patient-centered and relationship-centered care. They next describe and provide concrete examples to illustrate the underlying theory and practices associated with each of the three faculty development areas. They then propose five key areas for faculty development in patient-and relationship-centered care: (1) making it a central competency in all health care interactions, (2) developing a national curriculum framework, (3) requiring performance metrics for professional development, (4) partnering with national health care organizations to disseminate the curriculum framework, and (5) preserving face-to-face educational methods for delivering key elements of the curriculum. Finally, the authors consider the issues faced in faculty development today in light of the medical education issues Abraham Flexner identified more than a century ago.