How does patient-centered care relate to interprofessional collaboration?

• A. It is unrelated to collaboration.
• B. It focuses only on physician preferences.
• C. It centers care on patient values and needs, guiding team goals and coordination; collaboration is the mechanism to achieve it.
• D. It reduces the need for teamwork.

Answer: (C)

Patient-centered care puts the patient’s values, preferences, and needs at the heart of every decision. In interprofessional care, achieving that requires the team to work together—sharing information, aligning on goals, and coordinating actions so the plan reflects what matters most to the patient. Collaboration is the mechanism that makes patient-centered aims feasible across different disciplines, ensuring consistent messages and coordinated care. The other options miss that integrated, team-based approach: care isn’t about physician preferences alone, it isn’t unrelated to teamwork, and it doesn’t reduce the need for collaboration.