If You Build It, Will They Come? Designing Truly Patient-Centered Health Care

As the United States debates how to reorganize its health care system, policy makers must ask what patients really want and need from their primary care providers. There is often a disconnect between what patients say they want and what other providers or payers think patients want. Our research at the National Partnership for Women and Families suggests that a truly patient-centered health care system must be designed to incorporate features that matter to patients--including "whole person" care, comprehensive communication and coordination, patient support and empowerment, and ready access. Without these features, and without consumer input into the design, ongoing practice, and evaluation of new models, patients may reject new approaches such as medical homes and accountable care organizations.