After more than 100 years of the same style of health care, the U.S. is poised for the next big change, and patient- and family-centered care like that pioneered at Medical College of Georgia will be a big part of it, a national expert said Wednesday.

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Dr. Paul Uhlig, a cardiothoracic surgeon and associate professor at the University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita, was the keynote speaker at the 2010 Patient Family Centered Care Conference at MCG.

It was the first at MCG since the death of Patricia Sodomka, an internationally recognized advocate for involving patients and families in how care is delivered and hospitals and clinics are designed, but her name and her memory was invoked throughout the beginning of the conference.

"The one thing that we will never, and I do say never, let go is the legacy that Pat Sodomka left for us," said Sandra I. McVicker, interim CEO of MCG Health Inc., which runs the school's clinical system and was one of the sponsors for the conference.

Most hospitals and health systems think they are focused on patients and do a good job of meeting their needs, Uhlig said.

"I would say there is a handful of places around the country that is really taking this on in the serious way that Medical College of Georgia is," he said. "And I think also just to recognize the amazing legacy of Pat Sodomka. She genuinely was beloved across the country and the world for the pioneering work that is being done here to involve patients and families as advisors in every level of operations."

It should start in training, with students in every discipline -- doctors, nurses, pharmacists -- learning to work together as a collaborative team, and patients and families involved in the education, Uhlig said.

"If you have patient and family faculty as part of your education and that experience is happening in an interdisciplinary way, then you end up a different kind of health professional," he said.

But much of the structure of the current health care system keeps that interaction from happening or makes it more difficult, Uhlig said. The U.S. spends the most on health care but there is increasing dissatisfaction with the system, he said. Change should start with envisioning health care that focuses on different goals.

"What would a health care system look like if it were configured to help people live whole meaningful lives?" he asked. "Most people, they don't really come to have their disease fixed. They come wanting their life whole again. They want to be able to dance at their daughter's wedding or they want to be able to watch their granddaughter graduate from that special program in six months."

Collaborative care and involving patients in their care lowered mortality among heart patients at his hospital and improved other measures, Uhlig said. A study at MCG involving patients and families in rounds improved not only patient satisfaction but team satisfaction, said Dr. Walter Moore, senior associate dean for graduate medical education.