Patient-centered care practices are becoming the foundation of today's healthcare system. However, more work and research remains to be done before a fully integrated, patient-centered system is implemented across the healthcare system. Murphy (2011) took a closer look at the patient-centered care system and what needs to be done before the patient truly becomes the center of the health care universe. Patient-centered care makes the patient and family members an important part of the healthcare team, which can help eliminate unnecessary and unwanted services (Murphy, 2011). Murphy (2011) identifies four areas of the health care system that can be improved to increase patient engagement in their care: e-health, primary care, hospital care, and health information exchange. In e-health, the patient can create a profile that allows them to schedule appointments, store important medical documents online, create and update medication and allergy lists, and store relevant medical history (Murphy, 2011). All this information is then easily accessible in the event of a medical emergency and during regular office visits. This creates evidence-based care that clinicians continually struggle to provide (Murphy, 2011). Primary care should be the first point of contact with the health system for many people. However, primary care physicians are not as patient-centered as they should be. A Commonwealth Fund project identified 11 patient-centered care practices, with only 22% of physician practices falling in the high range (6-11 practices adopted) of patient-centered practices encountered (Murphy, 2011). . This could easily change if more physician practices adopted more automation within the practice. Hospital...... middle of paper ......to be more involved in their care and be able to understand the care that is provided to patients. them, as they can help update their medical history, insurance information, and medications through portals from home. Allow the patient to control their own health and the care they receive. References Tan, J. and Payton, F.C. (2010). Adaptive Health Management Information Systems (3rd ed.). Sadbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett. Murphy, J. (2011). The patient as the center of the health care universe: A closer look at patient-centered care. Nursing Economics, 29(1), 35-37. Singh, Y. and Chauhan, A. (2009). Neural networks in data mining. Journal of Theoretical and Applied Information Technology, 5(2), 37-42. Carpenter, D. (2007). Visions of the Future of Health Care: Bigger, More Patient-Centered Systems?. Hospitals and health networks, 81(5), 4-7.