Jodi Halpern, faculty affiliate of Berkeley Center for Social Medicine, is co-author of an essay in Health Affairs discussing the 10 rules put forth by the Institute of Medicine to improve patient-centered care. Underlying all the rules was the need for wise judgment in fostering trustworthy and healing relationships with patients. Practical wisdom is particularly needed to address ambiguous, complex, and uncertain situations that are associated with the chronic illnesses faced by a growing number of Americans. Their approach is characterized by having strong patient-centered primary care systems in which clinicians have considerable autonomy to use their judgment, their practical wisdom, in adapting rules/regulations and incentives to meet their patients’ needs.
July 29, 2025