Patient-centered care is both a philosophy and a strategy for the provision of health care services in the United States. This case study presents qualitative descriptive design as a methodology for planning patient-centered research in keeping with the demands of the modern health care system. It is based on the authors experience with a doctoral dissertation focusing on the use of patient-centered health information technology to engage older adults with multi-morbidities in the plan of care. We discuss practical considerations associated with qualitative descriptive, including sampling and data collection as well as qualitative design decisions related to the theoretical model and data analysis techniques. We conclude by sharing our lessons learned and providing discussion questions that could promote classroom conversation and further debate