About the PFCC Grand Challenge Series

Grand Challenges have been used for centuries to spark new ideas and promote significant change in the world. For example, as early as 1714 the British government asked how His Majesty's ships could calculate their longitude. Many great scientists of the day attacked the problem, but a self-taught watch maker, John Harrison, solved the problem. Not surprisingly, it took someone outside of the shipping industry to solve the problem, which is not uncommon. Sometimes those not immediately involved in the problem are the ones who can see the answer the clearest because often times those closely intertwined have difficulty getting beyond the paradigms.

Some recent public Grand Challenges that may be more familiar include the DARPA Challenge, the Google Lunar X Prize, and the Bill and Melinda Gates established Grand Challenges in Global Health, which have made tremendous progress in technology and soon, advances in medicine.

What is the PFCC Grand Challenge Series?

The Patient and Family Centered Care (PFCC) Grand Challenge Series invites members of the UPMC community to help ignite Patient and Family Center Care in the health care system.

PFCC is the redesign of patient care so that hospital resources and personnel are organized around the needs of patients and families rather than around various specialized hospital departments resulting in exceptional care experiences as seen though eyes of the patient and their families.

The PFCC Grand Challenge Series is an initiative dedicated to identifying innovative sustainable solutions that can provide exceptional care experiences.