Table 1.

Patient Engagement Activities Engaged in by Teams

Patient Engagement Level	Sample Activities
Level 1: Inform/Educate	Teams hang posters in waiting areas to notify patients of patient engagement opportunities and quality improvement efforts, and all communications are branded with the “Partnering with Patients” logo.
Level 2: Gather	In the belief that patients are concerned about wait times, a team surveys patients, only to learn that patients are willing to wait; waiting suggests to them that the physician will also spend more time with them if needed.
Level 3: Discuss	A team uses a variety of methods, such as calling some patients and inviting others to a team meeting, to learn more about the specific needs of patients with controlled and uncontrolled diabetes.
Level 4: Involve	A team in a clinic that is relocating convenes a Patient Advisory Panel to meet monthly for six months during the transition. In discussion with the panel, the team learns that patients do not realize the clinic is moving but rather think it is closing (given the “for sale” sign on the building) and also gains valuable feedback on the new self-rooming plan in the new clinic.
Level 5: Partner	A team decides to invite a patient to join the team and be an active participant at team meetings, resulting in more thoughtful conversations about patients, which in turn leads to a shift in culture in that the team now thinks about patients as partners in care rather than external customers.