Planetree http://www.planetree.org/

Since our founding by a patient in 1978, Planetree has defined what it means to be patient-centered. Planetree’s philosophy is based on a simple premise: care should be organized first and foremost around the needs of patients. To understand those needs Planetree turned to the source. Thousands of focus groups—from bedside to boardroom—with patients, long-term care residents, families and professional caregivers across the globe have borne out their needs and desires for a more personalized, humanized and demystified health care experience.

Bringing these concepts to life requires a shift not merely in operations but fundamentally in culture. Planetree guides providers through a structured process that enables caregivers to transform the health care experience they provide.

Planetree has a 30-year history of partnering with providers across the continuum of care to transform organizational cultures. It’s about creating culture change and delivering health care that is putting the needs of individuals first. By partnering with Planetree, providers across the continuum—from large, urban systems to small, critical access hospitals and long-term care communities–attain the expertise, tools and support needed to transform their health care experiences for patients, residents and caregivers alike. Presently, Planetree’s international membership is comprised of more than 500 organizations from five countries. Additionally, Planetree was selected by The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to collaborate with the new VA Office of Patient Centered Care and Cultural Transformation in the development of the VA’s own patient-centered care model for Veterans who receive health care services at VA’s more than 1,000 points of care across the nation.