Flip the Clinic, a new Robert Wood Johnson Foundation website, has launched with a goal of redesigning the patient-caregiver encounter based on input from both sides of that meeting.
“The traditional doctor's visit is ripe for reinvention—both because it is such a valuable interaction and because we know there are ways to make it better,” according to the site.
Visitors are encouraged to become part of the Flip the Clinic community by either submitting comments or suggesting tools that might improve the doctor-patient experience, called a flip on the site. Clinics and other healthcare providers are encouraged to sign up as site allies. “Think your organization might have something to offer Flip the Clinic? Partner with us! We're constantly looking for fresh ideas and places to try out new ones,” the site states.
Pieces of advice on the site are termed flips because they are displayed on what look like old-fashioned flip cards. For example, flip 19 asks: “How do you redesign the clinic?” The answer appears on the opposite side, which flips over when a visitor clicks on it: “By thinking beyond the walls.” A mini case study appears below the cards. In the case of flip 19, it details how the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh went about designing a new facility.
Discussions begun on the site are meant to evolve into practices in the field that can then be evaluated for how well they improve the doctor-patient encounter.
The site also includes a blog with posts discussing a Flip the Clinic conference the foundation held last September.
Follow John N. Frank on Twitter: @MHJFrank
Send us a letter
Have an opinion about this story? Click here to submit a Letter to the Editor, and we may publish it in print.
