Family-Centered Rounds

Families and Kids — Always Our First Priorities

Family-Centered Rounds Connect Patients, Physicians and Students
On a morning late in July, Luke Murray, 6, lies quietly in his bed on the 9th floor of Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC. After a stint in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and some heavy medication, he is a little groggy, but a shy smile peeks out from under his baseball cap. He’s understandably bashful — along with his parents, six other people in white coats are in his room: an attending physician, a senior resident, two interns and two medical students. They are the Blue Team-General Medical Service, and they are all paying attention to him.

Luke and his family are taking part in a pilot program known as family-centered rounds, begun by Children’s Paul C. Gaffney Diagnostic Referral Service. The concept of family-centered rounds is a simple, but enormous shift in perspective.

The daily discussion among attending physicians and residents about a patient’s condition and course of treatment no longer takes place in a conference room — it takes place in the child’s room, with parents participating.

It is one more step in Children’s Hospital’s efforts to families at the center of our practice of medicine — like our Condition Help initiative that empowers parents to ask for intervention in their child’s care.

Luke’s mom, Dotty, says she is not bothered at all by the group visits. “It’s a good thing,” she says. “They can all get on the same wavelength and know what’s going on. And they meet Luke. Each kid is an individual — they may have the same problem, but they are all different.”

Contact with the patient family is one of the great advantages of family-centered rounds, says Amber Hoffman, MD, the attending on the General Medical team with Diagnostic Referral.

“Everybody sees everybody’s patients,” Dr. Hoffman stresses. “They get to know the family in ways they didn’t before. The families are able to contribute as well — we sign off on the orders when everyone is in agreement with the plan.”

The practice of family-centered rounds does not only benefit team members in interacting with parents. Experience indicates that they are more efficient than traditional rounds.

“In the family-centered model,” says Andrew Urbach, MD, Children’s medical director for clinical excellence and service, “every single person is very clear on the plan when the team leaves the room — and this allows for a more accurate plan.”

Families, patients residents and medical students all benefit enormously from family-centered rounds, says Dr. Urbach. “It is an excellent educational experience for junior members of the faculty as well as the family. They see how we make complex decisions. This model also promotes a respectfulness and professionalism vis-à-vis talking about patients — because you are always in front of a family.”