What is Person-Centered Care?

Dear Dr. Jeff: Our mission statement asserts a commitment to “person-centered care,” as have those of every long-term care facility and chain for which I have worked. I have never really understood what this means, particularly in an era of computerized health records with automatic default orders, mandatory check boxes on templated practitioner notes, admission and periodic assessments all tailored to the Minimum Data Set, insurance- and algorithm-generated lengths of stay, vendor-created menu cycles that repeat every two weeks, and standardized infection control practices that treat all residents as potential sources of contagion.