Patient Advisory Council Implementation Reference Guide
What is a patient advisorycouncil (PAC)?
A patient advisory council (PAC) – sometimes called a Patient and Family Advisory Council (PFAC) – serves as resource to a practice/organization’s administration and staff, providing a vehicle for communication and to understand and address miscommunications. Open dialogue with patients leads to improved relationships through providing a safe environment and venue for patients to express needs and concerns, provide input, offer recommendations, develop new projects, and help implement sustainable change while also allowing opportunities for staff to hear ways that they can help the practice/organization improve.
Obtaining patient feedback can be accomplished in several ways. The most common models include:
•Boards or councils– a stand-alone meeting with patients and practice champions that work together to help improve the practice. The practice champion reports to the practice what the council advises
•Intentional integration– patients are integrated into existing Quality Improvement Team meetings
•Hybrid combination– patients are placed in existing QI meetings and also come together as a group of patient advisors to plan and provide input
What are the benefits of implementing a patient advisory council?
•Provides an effective mechanism for receiving and responding to patient input
•Results in more efficient planning to ensure that services really meet consumer needs and priorities
•Leads to increased understanding and cooperation between patients and families and staff
•Promotes respectful, effective partnerships between patients and families and professionals
•Offers a forum for developing creative, cost-effective solutions to problems and challenges faced by the program or organization
•Supplies a link between the program, its surrounding community, and community groups
•Provides increased emotional support and access to information for patients and families
Implementation strategies
•Decide on your practice/organization’s strategy – a board/council, intentional integration, or hybrid
•Create a recruitment strategy
•Choose a practice champion(s) that will be responsible for recruiting patients and will arrange meeting times, agenda items, and meeting minutes on an ongoing basis
•Plan how the practice will facilitate meetings
•Start with using the practice champions, then recruit patients to lead the board/council
•Decide on agenda items and topic areas for advisors to focus on and/or allow them to develop projects of their choice
•Coach patients about their role
•Practice champion(s)should help prepare the recruited patients by establishing expectations and describing the purpose of a patient advisory council and how the patient will/will not influence decisions in the practice
•Expectations can be set prior to meeting with the patient advisors or the practice can task the advisors with developing their own expectations
Options for Recruiting Advisors and Obtaining Feedback from Patients without an Advisory Council
•Provider/Staff recommendations – each care team should come up with a list of 5-10 patients
•Advertising in newsletters, flyers, and local newspapers – can be posted throughout the clinic
•Patient Rounding in the Waiting Room – a practice can ask patients after their exam/visit a series of open-ended questions
•Focus Groups – a practice can get a group of patients together for a one-time meeting and ask about their perceptions, opinions, beliefs, and attitudes toward a particular topic area
•Provides feedback without a commitment from patients and the establishment of an advisorycouncil
•Provides diverse perspectives, a practice can hold multiple focus groups with different patient populations
•Provides feedback from patients that don’t speak English and Spanish by using a language line or interpreter
•Used to identify patients for the council – patients that give proactive feedback and are interested in providing feedback on an ongoing basis can be asked to return as patient advisors
•External Referrals
•Community Outreach Workers/Community Health Worker/Patient Navigator – supports patients with accessing and utilizing community resources (i.e., community peers)
•Community Organizations and Support Group Leaders – can be found at community centers that offer community health education classes, community assistance programs, after-school programs
An agenda for your first advisory council meeting:
•Orient the patients to the practice champion, each other and describe the purpose of the advisory board that sets up expectations including membership term, attendance, and describes the roles and responsibilities of each member
•Conduct an ice breaker that allows members and practice champions to do personal introductions. Introductions should include: how long they have used the clinic for healthcare, the sharing of personal and family stories in the healthcare system, something that they have experienced that has benefitted their health in the clinic, one thing they think might improve their experience, and explain why they were interested in joining the council
•Review the vision and goals of the organization and develop vision and goals for the board
•Describe how the councilfits within the organization’s structure
•Review HIPAA and expectations for honoring privacy and confidentiality
More information about patient advisory councils from the Institute of Patient- and Family-Centered Care:
•Essential Allies Patient, Resident and Family Advisors: A Guide for Staff Liaisons
•Word of Advice: A Guide for Patient, Resident, and Family Advisors
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