PREPARED PATIENT BLOG

Patients and experts explore what it takes to find good health care and make the most of it.

Gary Oftedahl, MD is Chief Knowledge Officer at the Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement (ICSI) where he works to use systems approaches in improving health care, focusing on the value of the collaborative process.  He has helped create and lead collaborative initiatives on culture change, human factors in the ambulatory care environment, transitions of care in treatment of heart failure, and use of patient satisfaction in improving quality of care.  This article originally appeared in Minnesota Physician 25(7): 1, 10–11, copyright 2011, Minnesota Physician Publishing, and is reprinted here with permission.


Guest Blog: Terms of Engagement: Co-Creating Our Future with Patients

Gary Oftedahl | December 12, 2011
Today, physicians are confronted with an explosion of new technology, increasingly complex interventions, and an evolving focus on the need for longitudinal support of health issues, requiring increased involvement of our patients. While we may use different terms'engagement, involvement, empowerment, activation'in our discussions, all of them speak to the need to have active participation from patients and, in many cases, their family and other caregivers.