Source: McColl-Kennedy, J.R., Witell, L., Frow, P., Cheung, L., Payne, A. and Govind, R. (2025), "Patient-centered care in practice: hospital and online primary care settings", Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 39 No. 10, pp. 15-31. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSM-07-2024-0353

Patient-Centered Care (PCC) is fast becoming what the world thinks of as the top standard in healthcare. It is designed to center on patient preferences—on what patients themselves desire, require, and value at every step of their medical experience. This episode (based on a recent article from the Journal of Services Marketing) looks at how PCC functions in different environments, specifically, in typical hospital settings and in modern online primary care (telehealth). It looks closely at the four key tenets that characterize patient-centered care and explores elements such as multidisciplinary teams, patient empowerment and self-advocacy, and support from family and friends. The episode looks closely at all of these elements because they can have a significant impact on not just patient contentment but also overall health and well-being.

Core Findings

* Respect for Patients’ Needs, Values, and Preferences: Healthcare providers who personalize their method of care and take the time to genuinely hear patients’ needs are more likely to create trust, achieve improved health results, and guarantee higher levels of satisfaction.

* Multidisciplinary Teams in Collaboration: Hospitals and clinics that organize teams of multiple kinds of specialists (e.g., surgeons, therapists, nurses) communicate to patients a sense of coordinated, coherent care. This, in turn, significantly increases patient satisfaction and builds confidence in the system.

* Collaborative Engagement of Patients: Patients who use their own personal resources (health research, self-monitoring skills, and communication capabilities) tend to feel more powerful. When patients feel empowered, they often experience higher well-being and generally say that they are more in charge of their own healthcare journey.

* Engagement of Friends and Family: When patients have emotional and practical support from the people closest to them, they often have better mental health outcomes and report higher levels of satisfaction. Intriguingly, in the realm of online care, the benefits of family involvement may change based on whether the communication takes place via video or is restricted to audio only.

Actionable Takeaways

* Personalize and Pay Attention: Healthcare administrators and providers of all kinds can benefit by putting in place listening protocols—from comprehensive patient intake forms to frequent follow-up check-ins. These protocols can have an enormous positive effect.

* Make a Cooperative Team Culture: Healthcare professionals need to be encouraged to share information and communicate frequently. By doing so, they can create a joined-up, authoritative approach to patient care.

* Give Power to Patients: Provide resources for patients (user-friendly apps for tracking data and materials for education) that enable them to participate fully in making decisions.

* Make Room for Family Involvement: Make it easy for friends and family members to participate in consultations—especially in hospital settings or telehealth video conferences—to help patients experience feelings of being supported.

Real-World Examples

* TikTok Health Advice: Some hospitals are now using short, 30-second TikTok videos to give info on a wide range of topics from the most practical ones like how to book telehealth appointments to deeper stuff like what questions to ask your specialist. The goal? Get patients to engage with their care and speak up when they need to.

* Virtual Support Communities: Telehealth platforms are increasingly allowing family members to participate in consultations by way of video services like Zoom. This is especially beneficial for older people and those with chronic ailments such as diabetes or hypertension.

* Netflix’s “Lenox Hill” Inspiration: This show of doctors in action is a great depiction of how cooperation between neurosurgeons, OB-GYNs, and specialists can explain complex medical procedures in everyday terms for patients while keeping them at the heart of all choices about their health.

Whether it is in a top-of-the-line hospital or a telehealth video conversation, patient-centered care is about positioning the patient as the one that matters most. Organizations that implement these four tenets—valuing patient needs, making the most of teamwork across disciplines, giving patients agency in their own care, and getting friends/family involved—tend to see higher levels of patient contentment and better overall well-being. This is more than simply a popular term in healthcare; it’s a solid plan for supplying compassionate care that truly has the power to change lives.

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