Person Centered Care and Personalized Medicine: Irreconcilable Opposites or Potential Companions?

TLDR

Personalized medicine and person‑centered care both aim for individualized health care, yet they arise from distinct origins—biomedical science versus a caring, holistic perspective—making their compatibility uncertain. The study seeks to determine whether these two concepts can be integrated or whether they fundamentally conflict, by examining their meanings, ethical assumptions, and practical implications. To address this, the authors review and synthesize literature from medical and philosophical domains, comparing the definitions and applications of personalized medicine and person‑centered care.

Abstract

In contrast to standardized guidelines, personalized medicine and person centered care are two notions that have recently developed and are aspiring for more individualized health care for each single patient. While having a similar drive toward individualized care, their sources are markedly different. While personalized medicine stems from a biomedical framework, person centered care originates from a caring perspective, and a wish for a more holistic view of patients. It is unclear to what extent these two concepts can be combined or if they conflict at fundamental or pragmatic levels. This paper reviews existing literature in both medicine and related philosophy to analyze closer the meaning of the two notions, and to explore the extent to which they overlap or oppose each other, in theory or in practice, in particular regarding ethical assumptions and their respective practical implications.