Healthcare Leaders Receive Top Honours

Healthcare Leaders Receive Top Honours

October 25, 2006

    BOSTON, Oct. 25 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Karen Davis,
president of The Commonwealth Fund and Planetree, the
Connecticut-based organisation that has pioneered
personalizing the healthcare experience for patients and
their families, have been awarded top honours in the 2006
Annual Picker Institute Awards for Excellence in Patient
Centered Care.

    The presentations, made in London, England on October
25, acknowledge individuals who have made outstanding
contributions to improving the lives of patients and their
experiences of the healthcare system.

    The organisation's founder, Harvey Picker, said:
"Our mission is to improve the healthcare provider's
understanding of each patient's values, preferences and
expressed needs.

    "Through these awards, we recognise people whose
work has provided outstanding advances toward our common
mission."

    Karen Davis was congratulated for her achievements in
the advancement of patient-centered care, and in
recognition of her national and international leadership,
which has promoted patient-centeredness in policy and
practice as a hallmark of a high performing healthcare
system.

    Planetree won its award for excellence in recognition
of the institution's pioneering work in advocating the
concept of a healing and humanistic approach to the
environments in which healthcare services are provided.

    A third winner, for his achievements in the field of
patient-centred care and patient safety, was the UK's Chief
Medical Officer, Professor Sir Liam Donaldson.

    The awards come at a time when many Americans are
dissatisfied with the care they receive. According to the
NRC + Picker's 2004-2005 survey of about a million patients
in the United States:

    -- 34 percent of surgical patients and 35 percent of
medical
       patients reported hospital staff failed to tell them
what danger signs
       to look out for when they were sent home from
hospital

    -- More than one-third of all patients said their
doctors and nurses
       did not answer their questions in a way they could
understand

    -- 40 percent of patients responded that, if they had
any anxieties
       or fears about their condition or treatment, a
doctor failed to discuss
       them with the patient, while 52 percent of patients
said the same for a
       nurse.

    Notes to Editors

    1. The Picker Institute is an independent non-profit
organization that promotes the advancement of
patient-centered care, and the improvement of patients'
experiences and interactions with healthcare providers.

    For further information and photographs, visit
http://www.pickerinstitute.org 

    For more information, please contact:

     Lucile Hanscom
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail] 

SOURCE  Picker Institute Europe