Advisory councils add perspective and programs
Patients, family members, and staff confer on a variety of topics affecting the quality of patient care at Dana-Farber and its affiliates.
More-personal billing letters. Complementary therapy services. Shorter emergency department waits.
These are some of the improvements spearheaded or advanced by the Adult and
Pediatric Patient and Family Advisory Councils. Last year, council members contributed
more than 4,200 hours to benefit Dana-Farber and its affiliated oncology programs.
Side by Side contributors Barbara Holtz, Cyndi MacKinlay, and Karen Rossman.
Among other recent accomplishments, these groups have:
- Suggested ways to shorten patient waits in the adult and pediatric clinics.
- Launched Side by Side, the quarterly patient newsletter.
- Helped plan renovations to many areas, including the adult clinics at DFCI, the radiation therapy unit at Brigham and Women's Hospital, and the Jimmy Fund Clinic.
- Visited with patients and families to solicit ideas and concerns about their treatment.
- Developed a program to help inform first-year oncology fellows about the cancer patient's experience and how best to interact with patients and their families.
- Provided a patient/family perspective on committees addressing such topics as ethics, clinical services, and risk management.
- Participated in choosing artwork for many patient-care areas.
- Enabled pediatric cancer patients to bypass the Emergency Department waiting room at Children's Hospital Boston, reducing possible exposure to infection.
