CHOP Shares Best Practices with International Audience

As parents, you recognize the many ways The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia strives to partner with you and your child to make your care experiences here as family-centered as possible. In June 2012, clinicians, staff, patients and family members from hospitals around the world got a taste of CHOP’s family-centered care focus when the Institute for Patient- and Family-Centered Care (IPFCC) hosted its Fifth International Conference in Washington, DC.

CHOP shared its experiences in five sessions at the conference prompting Bev Johnson, president, CEO and founder of IPFCC, to applaud the work being accomplished at Children’s Hospital and to say she looks forward to partnering with CHOP in the future.

Conference presentations

IPFCC invited CHOP to present some of our best practices that have earned us international recognition as a distinguished leader in patient- and family-centered care.

These presentations included:

  • Family-centered Care Grand Rounds
  • Patient-centered Communication in Everyday Interactions: CHOP Care Network’s Physician Practice Strategy
  • Family Presence in Interventional Radiology
  • Putting FCC into Action: Using Family Members as Actors in Simulations
  • Strategies to Strengthen Partnerships during Difficult Situations

In addition, two CHOP posters, "Families in the Safekeeping Journey" and "Partnering with Families for the Ideal Perioperative Experience," were staffed and on display throughout the conference.

CHOP's representatives

The team from Children’s Hospital included:

  • Family consultants, Darlene Barkman, Kathy Conaboy and Amy Kratchman
  • Family Relations director, Rachel Biblow, MSW
  • Radiology child life specialists, Melanie Hoynoski, CCLS, CTLS, and Kelly Mignogna, CCLS
  • Child life manager, Jennifer Sciolla, MS, CTRS, CCLS
  • PICU clinical supervisor, Heidi Martin, RN, MSN
  • Behavioral health nurse specialist, Elizabeth A. Steinmiller, MSN, PMHCNS-BC
  • Perioperative family care specialists Linda C. Lawler, RN, BSN, and Susan N. Kamerling, RN, MSN, BC
  • Neonatal nurses Lauren Fisher, MSN, and Jennifer Adams, RN
  • Medical director of Integrated Care Service, Annique Hogan, MD
  • Senior Vice President-CHOP Care Network, Amy Lambert

Another highlight of the conference was when Donald Berwick, MD, former administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, spoke to the 900-plus attendees about the future of healthcare. He outlined his vision of how meaningful partnerships with patients and families, combined with thoughtfully designed information technology, care models and governmental policies, can lead to innovative healthcare systems that are best suited to meet the needs of patients, families, clinicians, communities and payers.