The Associations Between Patient- and Family-Centered Outpatient Pediatric Care and Other Quality Indicators: A Review of the Literature From 2005-2016

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study is to examine the existing academic literature from 01/05-01/16 for studies of pediatric outpatient populations that assess the associations between patient- and family-centered care (PFCC) with other quality outcomes. Methods: We systematically reviewed articles from 01/05 to 01/16 using PubMed. The structure of the search was to use terms relating to the variable of interest (e.g., family-centered care, partnership, shared decision-making), population of interest (e.g., pediatric, child, adolescent), and outcome of interest (e.g., outcomes, satisfaction, adherence, cost). Our search was supplemented with manual review of the bibliographies of selected studies and the related articles function in PubMed. Results: Review of the thirty-two included studies suggests that the provision of PFCC is associated with improvements in health care quality. In particular, PFCC is associated with improvements in many measures of satisfaction, family burden, preventive care, adolescent-specific care, access, and efficiency, and in some measures of child health status, parenting behaviors, and costs. Overall, PFCC was associated with improved quality in 77% (59/77) of examined outcomes and was not associated with improved quality in the remaining 23% (18/77) of examined outcomes. There were no negative associations found between PFCC and quality. We also found some evidence to suggest that the benefits of PFCC may be even more pronounced in more vulnerable populations. Conclusion: While there is compelling reason to support PFCC for all children based on its intrinsic value to patients, providers, and families, this review provides additional justification for the provision of PFCC to all children and families based on its association with other quality outcomes.