Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement

The National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF) proposed the development of a Universal Patient Compact to complement the Consumer Bill of Rights and Responsibilities. The compact will be based on the principles of the Consumer Bill of Rights and plans to create a covenant between health care providers and their patients.

The compact's aim is to create a better relationship between the patients and caregivers by building understanding about care-giving responsibilities. It will include a commitment to provide patient-friendly care and would reinforce the rights of the patients.

"When the Consumer Bill of Rights was developed, it represented an important step in establishing the patient voice in health care," says Diane Pinakiewicz, president of NPSF. "This compact is an evolution of that work and more reflective of what our system needs to focus on today, which is the manner in which the patient and the patient's caregivers work in partnership. True partnering and strengthened relationships are keys to the delivery of safe and high quality care. The universal compact respects this and moves the patient voice to where it needs to be -- central to and integrated within the health care team -- rather than outside it."

Linda Kenny, chair of NPSF's Patient and Family Committee, says that the compact would simplify the current practice. The compact would reinforce the humanity of the provider-patient relationship, she adds.