The Ten Commandments of Patient Care

1. The Patient is the most important person in our healthcare organization.
   The Patient is the reason we exist.
2. The Patient is not dependent on us — we are dependent on the Patient.
3. The Patient is not an interruption of our work, but the purpose of it.
4. The Patient should not feel honored that we choose to serve. The Patient honors us by    choosing us as his or her preferred provider.
5. The Patient is not an outsider who must yield to our world, but is our most important guest whose needs drive the way we deliver care.
6. The Patient is not a cold volume statistic, but flesh and blood: a human just like us with feelings and emotions like our own. The Patient is deserving of our caring, compassion and concern.
7. The Patient is not someone to argue with, belittle, or match wits with. The Patient should never doubt our diligence in reaching for best practice.
8. The Patient is the one who brings us his wants and needs. The Patient is worthy of our attention to the details that differentiate the right choices from the easy choices.
9. The Patient is deserving of the most courteous and attentive care we can provide where our first and most important responsibility is to honor the oldest rule in the patient/provider relationship—to first do no harm.
10. The Patient has the right to expect a healthcare provider to present with a professional, competent and caring behavior. At the heart of a great patient/provider relationship is the Patient’s decision to trust and believe.