Program Overview and Goals

The extraordinary achievements of the Betty Irene Moore Nursing Initiative and the accomplishments of the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at the University of California, Davis, have led to the creation of the Patient Care Program, an expanded focus and enduring commitment within healthcare for the Foundation. The goal of the Foundation’s Patient Care Program is to achieve, in collaboration with others, a fundamentally better approach to healthcare in our country that improves quality and safety, reduces costs, and ensures dignity and respect to both patients and those who serve them. 

Each year hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths occur in U.S. hospitals, and millions of dollars are spent on patient readmissions that could be averted. Additionally, fewer than half of all patients report feeling part of and respected by the healthcare system that serves them. The emerging evidence suggests that significant improvements in quality, safety, cost of care, and patient dignity can be achieved through the meaningful engagement of patients and families in their own care in tandem with the reconfiguration of healthcare teams, processes, and technology to support this engagement. 

With meaningful engagement, patients and their families will: 

• Understand the nature of, reasons for, risks and benefits of, and alternatives to the care they receive; 
• Be integrated into the healthcare team as true partners with clinicians and other healthcare professionals; 
• Participate in important care decisions; and 
• Have the skills to manage their own health, when appropriate and when desired. 

We anticipate announcing several investigative grants and research projects in support of the new Patient Care Program. In the next few years, the Program anticipates launching one or more initiatives and other focused activities to build a portfolio of investments that achieve lasting change and meaningful impact in improving the quality, safety, and cost of care while also ensuring dignity and respect for adult patients and those who care for them. We hope to collaborate with like-minded institutions, including other foundations, non-profits, for-profit corporations, and government agencies, to refine our emerging goals and approaches and find ways to bring our collective resources to bear.