Department/Specialty Advisory Councils

Specific departments within Henry Ford Health request to form their own Patient & Family Advisory Council (PFAC). Patient and caregivers who have experiences within the department are recruited to join the council to provide feedback on department processes, policies, patient-facing materials, and more. Patient Advisors are involved from the very beginning at the strategic planning process of the council in order to help lead the overall agenda of the PFAC.

Patient Involvement and Communication (PICC)

The Patient Advisory Council members are involved in some or all of following functions:

• Act as Champions of the ideal patient experience by bringing their ideas, thoughts and opinions about various topics and processes.
• Review communications to patients and families to ensure engagement in health care services.
• Provide feedback to fill in communication gaps between patients and providers.
• Revise and improve patient education materials to be understandable by patients and their caregivers.

Perioperative Brain Health PFAC

Patient Advisors on this council participated in the creation of new patient and caregiver education materials and in the revision of existing patient and caregiver education materials as they relate to whole experience before, during and after surgery. They also participated in improving the design of clinical pathways which guides all the healthcare providers to provide the same care to the right patient at the right time. Most recently this group focused on providing feedback to the "Speeding Up Your Recovery after Surgery" patient education booklet. PFAC meets as needed.

Cancer Center PFAC

Begun in early 2016, this group of cancer patient, survivors and their caregivers advised leaders on plans for the Henry Ford Cancer to being built on Henry Ford’s Downtown Campus which opened in 2021. They have given guidance to the architecture firm on specific building features and the most important cancer support services that are important to patients and caregivers. Previously, in 2018 the group was awarded $250K in Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute funding to develop precision medicine cancer research questions and develop a research agenda and dissemination plan for their work.

COVID Recovery Care PFAC

Patient population is emerging, needs specialized services for its specific needs, so little is known about COVID long haulers. Henry Ford Health has developed a COVID Recovery Care Service (Program) and formed a PFAC of long haulers to provide feedback on the new initiative. Along with providing feedback to HFH processes, Patient Advisors on this council also support the “Using Body Mapping to Develop a Patient Centered Research Agenda About Long COVID-19” PCORI funded project.

Patient Advisor Role:

• Give suggestions for the program design and services
• Feedback to COVID Recovery Care website
• Codesigning patient education and marketing
• Supporting in developing a research agenda that is patient-focused
• Patient perspective on research about Long COVID-19

Experience Transformation PFAC

This council works on initiatives and process improvement around pre-visit, onsite visit, and post-visit communication and delivery. Additional Henry Ford Health priorities are to leverage existing or new digital solutions that facilitate patient access, strengthen existing referral channels and growing new ones with potential future partners, assist patients with understanding and paying their health expenses, and better manage total per member per month cost through patient/member engagement in their wellness and care.

Hermelin Brain Tumor PFAC

Mission: To leverage our combined experience as patients, caregivers and clinicians to guide the continual improvement and development of the Hermelin Brain Tumor Center. We believe our shared journey is invaluable. The goal is to drive innovation, research, and success to continue to be a center of excellence.