Home | Contact Us | Useful Links

Home

About the Picker Institute

Picker Perspectives

The Annual Picker Awards

The Picker Challenge Grants

The 2008 Research Agenda

The Picker Long-Term-Care Program

Educational Products

Our International Offices

The Picker Institute Services

The Picker Institute Surveys

The Picker Summit

The Shaller Report

Healthcare in a Land of Peoplepower

Publications/Archives

Picker Institute FAQ

Donating to the Picker Institute

About Picker Institute, Inc., and NRC

Welcome to Picker Institute

Picker Institute is an independent, nonprofit, educational organization dedicated to the advancement of patient-centered care.

“Understanding and respecting patients’ values, preferences and expressed needs

is the foundation of patient-centered care.” – Harvey Picker

 

Our organization

We are an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of the principles of patient-centered care

and the global patient-centered-care movement.

 

Our mission

Picker Institute sponsors research and education in the fields of patient-centered care in support of and in cooperation with

educational institutions and other interested entities and persons. The institute’s mission is to foster a broader understanding

of the theoretical and practical implications of patient-centered care by approaching healthcare with a focus on the concerns of

patients and other healthcare consumers.

Predicated on the understanding that Picker Institute is a world leader focusing on the measurement of the patient experience

and recognized as an important source of information, advice and support, the board of directors support the advancement of the

science through a variety of programs, awards that recognizes “Best Practices” and related research, each designed to foster

a continued improvement in healthcare from the patient’s perspective … through the patient’s eyes.

 

Our values

We believe that all patients deserve high-quality healthcare, and that patients’ views and experiences are integral to improvement efforts. The Patient-Centered-Care movement believes in the

Principles of Patient-Centered Care

• fast access to reliable health advice
• effective treatment delivered by staff you can trust
• involvement in decisions and respect for patients’ preferences
• clear, comprehensible information and support for self-care
• physical comfort and a clean, safe environment
• empathy and emotional support
• involvement of family and friends and support for careers
• continuity of care and smooth transitions


Picker Awards For Excellence®
in the Advancement of Patient-Centered Care

The identification and promotion of “best practices” that lead to the advancement of patient-centered care is an important element at Picker Institute. The annual Picker Awards for Excellence® in the Advancement of Patient-Centered Care were established in 2003 as the educational component of the mission. “Our mission is to make the patient’s experience, whether in a hospital or a doctor’s office, a better one,” said Picker Institute founder Harvey Picker. “The Picker Awards are intended to honor people and organizations who have made significant contributions to achieving this goal, and to highlight them as role models for others in the healthcare field.”

Click here for more information on the Picker Awards for Excellence®.


Picker Institute / ACGME Challenge Grants
Award Recipients 2006


The purpose of the Picker Institute Challenge Grant Program is to provide support, through a program of annual grants, for research and development of innovative projects designed to facilitate successful patient-centered-care initiatives and best practices in the education of our country’s future practicing physicians.

Click here for more information on the Picker Institute/ACGME Challenge Grant Program.


Through the Patient's Eyes Books, Videos and DVDs for Sale!

Bridging the gap between measurement and improvement of patient-centered care.

The groundbreaking research of the Picker Institute, in conjunction with the Harvard School of Medicine, resulted in the identification of seven dimensions of care, as documented in the book “Through the Patient’s Eyes.” Further research identified an eighth dimension of patient-centered care, Access to Care. This new framework clearly defined the patient’s perspective for the first time and served as the foundation for the Picker family of surveys.

Heralded by healthcare workers and researchers alike, "Through the Patient’s Eyes" provides the critical information hospital staff need to identify and understand what matters most to patients. In chronicling the dimensions of care, insight is provided to what patients think and experience during a hospital stay.

In addition to the new research and publications available through the network of Picker Institute services, the original groundbreaking work of the Picker/Commonwealth Program for Patient Centered Care (established in 1987) is documented in the comprehensive and definitive text on the topic, “Through the Patient’s Eyes – Understanding and Promoting Patient-Centered Care.” The highly praised, 1993, publication is now available in paperback and can be ordered through the Picker Institute.

Two videos also have been produced as companion educational tools to be used in conjunction with the groundbreaking text.

More on how to order "Through the Patient's Eyes" >


Picker Institute Europe Factsheets

The Picker Institute Europe produces a world class newsletter that provides some of the best sources of information and “best practices” for improving healthcare practices and systems. Below is a direct link to the Picker Europe factsheets for 2003 - 2005.

To view factsheets >


2006 Research Agenda

Picker Institute is supporting the following Projects and Programs throughout 2006:

~ Patient Centered Professionalism Project
~Picker Institute / ACGME Challenge Grants Project
~Study of the Relationship between Patient-Centered Care, Technical Quality of Care, Other Care Process and Outcomes
~Annual Picker Awards for Excellence

More >


Patient-Centered Professionalism

Click the cover above to view the Report in PDF format.

An International Project to Define Public Expectations of Doctors

Patient-centered Professionalism is an important new Picker Institute Europe project whose aim is to bring together evidence about patients' experiences and expectations to help the medical profession in shaping its role and responsibilities in the 21st Century. This research project examines patient-centered practice, values and interests, and is being funded through a generous grant from the Picker Institute in the United States. It embodies a forum bringing together like-minded people and organizations - a 'partnership of the willing' - committed to implementing patient-centered medical care.

More on the 2006 Picker Research Agenda >

Register here for access to our research findings, regular Patient-Centered Professionalism email newsletters and invitations to Picker Institute events and, shortly, an opportunity to debate issues online with other interested parties.