How to Get Better Care with Lower Costs? See the Person, Not the Patient

The U.S. health system perceives people as "patients" almost exclusively as they enter and exit the healthcare system, but with this emphasis on context, have we lost sight of the people who should be in the foreground of care? Does such a view impede care effectiveness and efficiency? How can we shift our frame of reference moving forward? To foster this needed conceptual shift, a group of national thought-leaders convened by the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) defined "person-centered care" to reorient the perspective toward individuals remaining in the center of pursuing high-quality care. This article explores how a person-centered care approach can improve healthcare effectiveness and efficiency, particularly for older adults with heightened health and daily living needs, and healthcare costs. The process for supporting a person-centered program is outlined, three critical indicators that define person-centered quality are highlighted, and several models that embrace the person-centered paradigm are briefly noted. Although there is no one-size-fits-all schematic, how and why overall success entails fidelity to essential elements of person-centered programs as the AGS expert panel identified is explained.