Terminology

• Consumer. Because this document aims to be useful to a wide array of health organizations, the Change Package preferentially uses consumer as an umbrella term to represent an individual or their authorized representative – such as a parent of a minor or an adult child of an aging parent – who interacts with the health care system. In a health delivery setting, they may be more frequently referred to as patients and family members. In a health plan or ACO setting, they are more frequently referred to as members.
• Caregivers may include family members, friends, authorized representatives, community-based supporters or others authorized by the patient to support them in their care.
• Patient and family engagement is the act of partnering with patients and families in defining, designing, participating in and assessing the care practices and systems that serve them to assure they are respectful of and responsive to individual patient preferences, needs and values.
• Person-centered and family-centered care refer to health care planning, delivery and evaluation that involves patients, families and caregivers as equal partners in making sure care meets their goals, needs and preferences. This can also be referred to as people-centered or patient-centered care.
• Patient experience is a component of health care quality that encompasses the interactions that patients have with the health care system.