What is STEEEP and Why Should you Care?

An acronym for safe, timely, effective, efficient, equitable, and patient-centered care, STEEEP was trademarked by Baylor Health Care System in 2001. Intended as healthcare quality management program, this framework is used to help prioritize these 6 key components of health care:

Safe: Avoiding injuries to patients from care that is intended to help them, without accidental error or inadvertent exposures

Timely: Reducing waits and harmful delays impacting smooth delivery of care

Effective: Providing services based on scientific knowledge to all who could benefit and refraining from providing services to those not likely to benefit (avoiding overuse and underuse)

Efficient: Using resources to achieve best value by reducing waste and reducing production and administrative costs

Equitable: Providing care that does not vary in quality according to personal characteristics such as gender, income, ethnicity, or location

Patient-Centered: Providing care that is respectful of and responsive to individual patient preferences, needs, and values

Not only is it important for care professionals to uphold these standards but it’s also important for patients to understand them. When discussing medical decisions that impact your health, ask yourself: is STEEEP present? What points are being focused on for my care?

Dr. Corey Siegel, the Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Center at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire, describes his work with clinical trials as it relates to STEEEP as focusing on the ‘S’ and the ‘P’.

Dr. Corey Siegel, MD

“My work is focused on the safety and patient-centered components,” Dr. Siegel said. “The idea is to determine the safety of these medications and find ways to make patients really understand the risks versus the benefits so that they can make choices that fit with their personal preferences. We need to pose it in a way that is honest, fair, and balanced, with our only agenda being that it is a clear communication of accurate information.”

With a primary focus in clinical trials for inflammatory bowel disease, colonoscopy, Crohn’s Disease, inflammatory bowel disease, ulcerative colitis, upper endoscopy; Dr. Siegel is best known for his personalized patient care and proactive approach to treatment.