(worth reading) Editorial: The Values and Value of Patient-Centered Care -- Epstein and Street 9 (2): 100 -- Annals of Family Medicine

"The originators of client-centered and patient-centered health care were well aware of the moral implications of their work, which was based on deep respect for patients as unique living beings, and the obligation to care for them on their terms. Thus, patients are known as persons in context of their own social worlds, listened to, informed, respected, and involved in their care—and their wishes are honored (but not mindlessly enacted) during their health care journey.^2–6 There have been concerns that patient-centered care, with its focus on individual needs, might be at odds with an evidence-based approach, which tends to focus on populations. Fortunately, that debate has been laid to rest; proponents of evidence-based medicine now accept that a good outcome must be defined in terms of what is meaningful and valuable to the individual patient.⁷ Patient-centered care, as does evidence-based medicine, considers both the art of generalizations and the science of particulars.⁸"