Home|Blog | Griffin Hospital Honored as a National Healthcare Leader in Patient-Centered Care

DERBY, CT – Griffin Hospital is one of three hospitals nationwide to be honored by the Planetree organization with its “2010 Distinction for Leadership and Innovation in Patient-Centered Care Award.” The award recognizes Griffin for its work to continually advance the practice of patient-centered care through outreach, research, scholarship and innovation.

As one of only ten Planetree Designated Patient-Centered Hospitals in the United States, Griffin Hospital has already distinguished itself as among those hospitals across the country doing the most advanced work in patient-centered care, defined as an approach to care delivery in which providers partner with patients and their family members to identify and satisfy the full range of patient needs and preferences. Designated hospitals’ performance on the nationally standardized HCAHPS patient experience survey suggest that their efforts to respond to the full range of patient needs and preferences makes a difference in patients’ perceptions of their care experiences. As a group, the ten Planetree Designated Patient-Centered Hospitals in the United States exceed national averages on all ten publicly reported HCAHPS categories. Being a Planetree Designated Patient-Centered Hospital is also is recognized as a measure of quality and posted on the Joint Commission’s Quality Check web site.

By definition, a patient-centered approach is personalized, tailored to the needs of a hospital’s local patients and community. The Distinction Award honors Griffin for complementing its ongoing work to meet the specific needs of its community and staff of professional caregivers with more broad-based efforts to build awareness, strengthen the case and continue to innovate in patient-centered care. Specifically, staff and leadership from Griffin have participated in national conferences and webinars, engaged in research to tie specific outcomes to patient-centered care, submitted articles for publication in national peer-reviewed journals and participated in public policy initiatives to expand the practice of patient-centered care.

Griffin Hospital is the flagship hospital of Planetree, which now counts more than 154 members nationwide and internationally. Since 1992, when Griffin Hospital first became a Planetree affiliate, more than 650 healthcare organizations around the country and throughout the world have visited Griffin Hospital to see its Planetree model in action. “As patient-centered approaches to care attract more and more attention as means for delivering a better patient experience, superior outcomes and improved operating performance, all healthcare providers and consumers can benefit from the experience of hospitals like Griffin Hospital with well-established patient-centered cultures,” said Susan Frampton, President of Planetree. “By sharing its successes and challenges, Griffin Hospital has exponentially increased the impact of its patient-centered culture to benefit not only patients, families and professional caregivers in its local community, but also those all over the country and even abroad. For this reason, Planetree is proud to honor Griffin Hospital with its most prestigious recognition for excellence in patient-centered care delivery, innovation and leadership in the field.”

Griffin President and CEO Patrick Charmel recently accepted the Distinction in Leadership and Innovation in Patient-Centered Care Award during the Planetree International Conference, held earlier this month in Denver, Colorado. The conference convened more than 800 healthcare practitioners, long-term care specialists, academics, patient advocates, nurses, executives, Veterans Affairs administrators and architects to share innovations in patient-centered care. “At Griffin Hospital, we believe that regardless of their role at the hospital, everyone is a caregiver – employees, physicians, and volunteers alike,” said Charmel. “Since 1992, this shared philosophy and deep rooted commitment to patient-centered care has enabled us to create an exceptional patient experience, by being innovative, responding to the needs of patients and their families, and through the sharing of best practices with other Planetree member hospitals. The entire Griffin Hospital family shares in this prestigious honor.”