In 2012, the UC Office of the President awarded an innovation grant to the Patient Support Corps (PSC) as a collaborative project between UCSF and UC Berkeley. Our program trains UC Berkeley students to serve as patient scribes who connect patients with valid information online; list patient questions; take notes; and make audio-recordings of pivotal medical consultations.
The need for this support arises because patients say they are bombarded with conflicting information while waiting to see specialists about a medical condition. Patients also say they freeze up in medical consultations and forget to ask questions that were keeping them up at night as they approached their appointment date. And patients remark that when specialists do answer their questions, the information often goes "in one ear and out the other."
The Patient Support Corps strategies have resulted, in dozens of randomized controlled trials, in more informed, involved and satisfied patients who have better outcomes and make more appropriate use of resources. The strategies contribute to patient care and leverage online information resources from digital publishers such as Emmi Solutions, Healthwise, and the National Cancer Institute. We also leverage sophisticated customer relationship management databases, mobile communications, document management systems, and digital audio-recording technologies. In the last year, 35 students supported over 1,000 UCSF patient visits in dozens of clinics around the medical center. However, the current reach of the program falls short of the overall need. UCSF is the first medical center to implement our high-tech, high-touch strategies at scale, and has the opportunity to provide regional, national, and international leadership in the area of support for patient education, communication, and decision-making. This presentation will summarize the program's design and evolution and lessons learned.
Slides: https://ucsf.box.com/s/89acm50yyq4kjtsx7uup8jo2by1tny77 (MyAccess login required)
Handouts: https://ucsf.box.com/s/io9wc65ihm1whxr8h1j8ldbk4fqajco6 (MyAccess login required)
Dr. Belkora is a faculty member in Surgery and Health Policy at UCSF, and is the founder and director of the Patient Support Corps. His mission is to help patients be more informed and involved in their treatment decisions, and experience better care and better outcomes. Dr. Belkora has been hailed as a leading innovator by the Mayo Clinic, and by the US Department of Health and Human Services. Tia Weinberg is the staff coordinator of the Patient Support Corps and was one of the first students who participated in the program at UC Berkeley. Tia recently won a UCSF STAR Achievement award recognizing her role in promoting UCSF-UC Berkeley collaboration via the Patient Support Corps.
