Patient and Family Advisory Council Improves Safety, Quality and the Patient Experience

Working Together to Serve Our Communities Better at Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus

The Patient and Family Advisory Council at Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus
The Patient and Family Advisory Council at Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus

At Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus, we are committed to listening to the voices of our patients and their family members and acting on their feedback to improve the patient experience. If you have been a patient or a family member of a patient who has been treated here, we invite you to join our Patient and Family Advisory Council (PFAC).

Our PFAC is composed of a group of current and former patients, families and hospital staff who work together to improve the patient experience and quality of care.

The PFAC Mission

The PFAC is dedicated to strengthening collaboration between patients and family members and the health care team to enhance Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus's ability to deliver the highest standard of safe, comprehensive and compassionate care.

What Does a PFAC Do?

The PFAC helps to improve programs, services and policies within the organization and promote a culture of patient- and family-centered care. Our PFAC helps us learn from patients' diverse perspectives and firsthand experiences and integrate their ideas into service delivery and quality improvement efforts. PFAC members work closely with our Patient Experience Team, connecting the patients and families with medical staff, clinicians and administrators as partners to improve care delivery.

For example, a current project includes review of the telehealth service, including the patient portal and scheduling, to discuss how to encourage and improve the service, especially for seniors. The PFAC also provides ongoing patient satisfaction survey input. The committee is periodically informed of the most recent patient satisfaction scores and provides their perspectives on the survey questions and what the best possible patient experience would look like.

Read this article about how our PFAC helps us listen to voices from the community.

Meet Our Advisory Council Members

Accomplishments

PFACs are a proven approach for health care organizations to form a partnership that improves patient and family experiences. Some of the ways our PFAC has made a difference at Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus include:

  • Improved Wayfinding
    Improved signage and color coded entrances so patients can find their way to the correct parking lots and entrances to the hospital. Mapped the shortest ways to reach particular service areas.
  • User Experience Review for Website
    The PFAC reviewed the website for accessibility and ease of use, and provided feedback went directly to the System web design team.
  • Reporting to Committees
    PFAC members serve on the Performance Improvement Committee, the Medical Policy Committee, the Patient Falls Committees, and one serves as an Emeritus Trustee on the Board of Trustees. They provide s a brief report about the PFAC activities at each meeting to share developments with leadership.
  • Barrier Identification
    The PFAC identified barriers for outpatients, particularly the patients seeking relatively non-complex testing such as bloodwork. PFAC members identified what might be deterrents to people to have outpatient testing done at the hospital. Next steps include a conversation with centralized scheduling to review their operations to determine possible initiatives for improvement.

For more about how PFACs have been making quality improvements across the RWJBarnabas Health system, visit our Accomplishments page.

If you have questions or would like to join the PFAC, please call 732-886-4600 or complete the PFAC Application Form.