Every Patient Has a Story.Every Voice Matters.

Press Ganey’s unique approach to improvement gives every patient the opportunity to be heard.

With deeper patient feedback, you can see and understand thousands of daily touchpoints across

the entire care experience. Know how patients rate your organization, and why.

Deeper data gives you the ability to drill down so you can address the needs of your unique patient

populations and improve the quality and safety of care more quickly.

Through advanced analytics and strategic advisory services, we help you drive targeted performance

improvement to enhance the patient experience and achieve operational excellence.

Learn more at pressganey.com.

Listen Deeply — Give Every Patient the Chance to Be Heard

© 2013 Press Ganey Associates, Inc.OPEN

Maximizing the patient’s experience is a hot topic for hospital executives. While this notion isn’t new, it’s been pushed to the forefront because of satisfaction surveys, increased competition and the Yelp-ifi cation of health care.

While many have made gains, some pro-viders have struggled to transform the patient environment in a timely manner, or to sustain those improvements. Experts say that too many hospital leaders confuse optimizing satisfac-tion with advancing the patient experience.

“The experience is not about happiness. It’s about patients being respected, being communicated with, and having their care coordinated in such a way that they can get the best possible clinical outcome for whatever their circumstances are,” says Patrick Ryan, CEO of Press Ganey. “Let’s look at the patient experience in total as reducing su� er-ing and reducing anxiety. And when you do that,

you look across the entire continuum of care, from the fi rst phone call to the patient’s being discharged.”

Improving communication — on medication at the bedside and with both patients and their families — is a critical element of bolstering the health care experience, says James Merlino, M.D., chief experience o� cer for the Cleveland Clinic, one of the fi rst providers to create such a position. If hospital leaders want to take the patient encounter to the next level, they need to focus on creating and sustaining a culture, aligned around patient-centeredness, along with engaging the people doctors are treating.

The biggest challenge Merlino sees hospitals facing in this e� ort is fi guring out where to start, and defi ning exactly what the “patient experience” means.

“Everybody has a per-spective on what

you need to do to fi x the patient experience, but if you don’t take control of that debate and push all of your resources toward high-value tactics, you’re not going to be successful,” Merlino says. “I think what happens is people, organizations, leaders, managers tend to sputter out.”

Some, working in the smaller community hospi-tals, worry that patient experience initiatives are overly focused on shiny bells and whistles at the bedside, which they can’t replicate on their shoestring budgets. Large systems can hire extra sta� to tackle an issue, but that’s not an option at 162-bed Onslow Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville, N.C. Instead, leaders there are focused on simpler ways of improving their culture, such as using navigators to help comorbid patients fi nd their way around the hospital and having care teams “huddle up” to assess the situation at hand and work on patient hando� s.

Despite a hospital’s best e� orts, there are always certain patients who behave “irrationally” and are determined to leave negative feedback on a survey, says Onslow CEO Ed Piper. The best you can do is to acknowledge and assure the patient that the culture is safe and caring, and set the stage for the best experience through careful communication and the display of human kindness from any sta� member, clinical or nonclinical, who encounters the patient.

For Douglas Wood, M.D., director of strat-egy and policy for the Mayo Clinic Center for Innovation, truly transforming the health care expe-rience is about meeting patients at home or wher-ever is most convenient, responding to their needs using all available resources through a team-based care model, and reorienting the delivery model away from bricks and mortar.

“We will realize fairly quickly that we need to change the focus of the health care industry to creat-ing health, not just producing health care,” Wood says. “And when you do that, it will change the focus away from the experience within hospitals and clinics to the true, complete patient experience. It’s nice to have a hospital that has lots of amenities but, really, not too many of us look forward to scheduling a stay in a hospital as though we would look forward to going on a cruise.”

This gatefold will explore how organizations can make systemic changes in the patient experi-ence, using best practices and tools from some of the top performers.•

R e s e a r c h b y   M a r t y S t e m p n i a k

KEY STEPS FOR LEADERSHIPThere are a few key steps that hospital and health system leaders can take to help systemically address the patient experience.

1. FOSTER STAFF UNDERSTANDING OF THE PATIENT EXPERIENCE AND THE RELATIONSHIP IT HAS WITH OTHER ASPECTS OF CARE.

• The relationship between the patient experience and clinical outcomes

• The relationship between the patient experience and patient engagement

• The role of the patient experience in the hospi-tal’s � nancial success

2. DEMONSTRATE EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP INVOLVEMENT IN IMPROVING THE PATIENT EXPERIENCE.

• Continuously demonstrate, both visibly and verbally, that the patient experience is a top priority.

• Make weekly executive rounds.

• Monitor and share scores, celebrate success and encourage additional improvement.

• Support sta� e� orts to succeed (tools, training, cheerleading).

3. IMPLEMENT BEST PRACTICES.

• Purposeful hourly rounding

• Bedside shi� reporting

• Post-discharge phone calls

• Scripts, logs, other tools

• Monitoring, feedback coaching on all tactics

• Sta� bonuses tied to scores Source: Press Ganey, 2013

This gatefold is sponsored by:

THE PATIENT EXPERIENCETaking it to the next level

THE PATIENT EXPERIENCETaking it to the next level

pGate1-2_HHN0413.indd 1 3/27/13 1:38 PM

Every Patient Has a Story.Every Voice Matters.

Press Ganey’s unique approach to improvement gives every patient the opportunity to be heard.

With deeper patient feedback, you can see and understand thousands of daily touchpoints across

the entire care experience. Know how patients rate your organization, and why.

Deeper data gives you the ability to drill down so you can address the needs of your unique patient

populations and improve the quality and safety of care more quickly.

Through advanced analytics and strategic advisory services, we help you drive targeted performance

improvement to enhance the patient experience and achieve operational excellence.

Learn more at pressganey.com.

Listen Deeply — Give Every Patient the Chance to Be Heard

© 2013 Press Ganey Associates, Inc.OPEN

Maximizing the patient’s experience is a hot topic for hospital executives. While this notion isn’t new, it’s been pushed to the forefront because of satisfaction surveys, increased competition and the Yelp-ifi cation of health care.

While many have made gains, some pro-viders have struggled to transform the patient environment in a timely manner, or to sustain those improvements. Experts say that too many hospital leaders confuse optimizing satisfac-tion with advancing the patient experience.

“The experience is not about happiness. It’s about patients being respected, being communicated with, and having their care coordinated in such a way that they can get the best possible clinical outcome for whatever their circumstances are,” says Patrick Ryan, CEO of Press Ganey. “Let’s look at the patient experience in total as reducing su� er-ing and reducing anxiety. And when you do that,

you look across the entire continuum of care, from the fi rst phone call to the patient’s being discharged.”

Improving communication — on medication at the bedside and with both patients and their families — is a critical element of bolstering the health care experience, says James Merlino, M.D., chief experience o� cer for the Cleveland Clinic, one of the fi rst providers to create such a position. If hospital leaders want to take the patient encounter to the next level, they need to focus on creating and sustaining a culture, aligned around patient-centeredness, along with engaging the people doctors are treating.

The biggest challenge Merlino sees hospitals facing in this e� ort is fi guring out where to start, and defi ning exactly what the “patient experience” means.

“Everybody has a per-spective on what

you need to do to fi x the patient experience, but if you don’t take control of that debate and push all of your resources toward high-value tactics, you’re not going to be successful,” Merlino says. “I think what happens is people, organizations, leaders, managers tend to sputter out.”

Some, working in the smaller community hospi-tals, worry that patient experience initiatives are overly focused on shiny bells and whistles at the bedside, which they can’t replicate on their shoestring budgets. Large systems can hire extra sta� to tackle an issue, but that’s not an option at 162-bed Onslow Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville, N.C. Instead, leaders there are focused on simpler ways of improving their culture, such as using navigators to help comorbid patients fi nd their way around the hospital and having care teams “huddle up” to assess the situation at hand and work on patient hando� s.

Despite a hospital’s best e� orts, there are always certain patients who behave “irrationally” and are determined to leave negative feedback on a survey, says Onslow CEO Ed Piper. The best you can do is to acknowledge and assure the patient that the culture is safe and caring, and set the stage for the best experience through careful communication and the display of human kindness from any sta� member, clinical or nonclinical, who encounters the patient.

For Douglas Wood, M.D., director of strat-egy and policy for the Mayo Clinic Center for Innovation, truly transforming the health care expe-rience is about meeting patients at home or wher-ever is most convenient, responding to their needs using all available resources through a team-based care model, and reorienting the delivery model away from bricks and mortar.

“We will realize fairly quickly that we need to change the focus of the health care industry to creat-ing health, not just producing health care,” Wood says. “And when you do that, it will change the focus away from the experience within hospitals and clinics to the true, complete patient experience. It’s nice to have a hospital that has lots of amenities but, really, not too many of us look forward to scheduling a stay in a hospital as though we would look forward to going on a cruise.”

This gatefold will explore how organizations can make systemic changes in the patient experi-ence, using best practices and tools from some of the top performers.•

R e s e a r c h b y   M a r t y S t e m p n i a k

KEY STEPS FOR LEADERSHIPThere are a few key steps that hospital and health system leaders can take to help systemically address the patient experience.

1. FOSTER STAFF UNDERSTANDING OF THE PATIENT EXPERIENCE AND THE RELATIONSHIP IT HAS WITH OTHER ASPECTS OF CARE.

• The relationship between the patient experience and clinical outcomes

• The relationship between the patient experience and patient engagement

• The role of the patient experience in the hospi-tal’s � nancial success

2. DEMONSTRATE EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP INVOLVEMENT IN IMPROVING THE PATIENT EXPERIENCE.

• Continuously demonstrate, both visibly and verbally, that the patient experience is a top priority.

• Make weekly executive rounds.

• Monitor and share scores, celebrate success and encourage additional improvement.

• Support sta� e� orts to succeed (tools, training, cheerleading).

3. IMPLEMENT BEST PRACTICES.

• Purposeful hourly rounding

• Bedside shi� reporting

• Post-discharge phone calls

• Scripts, logs, other tools

• Monitoring, feedback coaching on all tactics

• Sta� bonuses tied to scores Source: Press Ganey, 2013

This gatefold is sponsored by:

THE PATIENT EXPERIENCETaking it to the next level

THE PATIENT EXPERIENCETaking it to the next level

pGate1-2_HHN0413.indd 1 3/27/13 1:38 PM

Every Patient Has a Story.Every Voice Matters.

Press Ganey’s unique approach to improvement gives every patient the opportunity to be heard.

With deeper patient feedback, you can see and understand thousands of daily touchpoints across

the entire care experience. Know how patients rate your organization, and why.

Deeper data gives you the ability to drill down so you can address the needs of your unique patient

populations and improve the quality and safety of care more quickly.

Through advanced analytics and strategic advisory services, we help you drive targeted performance

improvement to enhance the patient experience and achieve operational excellence.

Learn more at pressganey.com.

Listen Deeply — Give Every Patient the Chance to Be Heard

© 2013 Press Ganey Associates, Inc.OPEN

Maximizing the patient’s experience is a hot topic for hospital executives. While this notion isn’t new, it’s been pushed to the forefront because of satisfaction surveys, increased competition and the Yelp-ifi cation of health care.

While many have made gains, some pro-viders have struggled to transform the patient environment in a timely manner, or to sustain those improvements. Experts say that too many hospital leaders confuse optimizing satisfac-tion with advancing the patient experience.

“The experience is not about happiness. It’s about patients being respected, being communicated with, and having their care coordinated in such a way that they can get the best possible clinical outcome for whatever their circumstances are,” says Patrick Ryan, CEO of Press Ganey. “Let’s look at the patient experience in total as reducing su� er-ing and reducing anxiety. And when you do that,

you look across the entire continuum of care, from the fi rst phone call to the patient’s being discharged.”

Improving communication — on medication at the bedside and with both patients and their families — is a critical element of bolstering the health care experience, says James Merlino, M.D., chief experience o� cer for the Cleveland Clinic, one of the fi rst providers to create such a position. If hospital leaders want to take the patient encounter to the next level, they need to focus on creating and sustaining a culture, aligned around patient-centeredness, along with engaging the people doctors are treating.

The biggest challenge Merlino sees hospitals facing in this e� ort is fi guring out where to start, and defi ning exactly what the “patient experience” means.

“Everybody has a per-spective on what

you need to do to fi x the patient experience, but if you don’t take control of that debate and push all of your resources toward high-value tactics, you’re not going to be successful,” Merlino says. “I think what happens is people, organizations, leaders, managers tend to sputter out.”

Some, working in the smaller community hospi-tals, worry that patient experience initiatives are overly focused on shiny bells and whistles at the bedside, which they can’t replicate on their shoestring budgets. Large systems can hire extra sta� to tackle an issue, but that’s not an option at 162-bed Onslow Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville, N.C. Instead, leaders there are focused on simpler ways of improving their culture, such as using navigators to help comorbid patients fi nd their way around the hospital and having care teams “huddle up” to assess the situation at hand and work on patient hando� s.

Despite a hospital’s best e� orts, there are always certain patients who behave “irrationally” and are determined to leave negative feedback on a survey, says Onslow CEO Ed Piper. The best you can do is to acknowledge and assure the patient that the culture is safe and caring, and set the stage for the best experience through careful communication and the display of human kindness from any sta� member, clinical or nonclinical, who encounters the patient.

For Douglas Wood, M.D., director of strat-egy and policy for the Mayo Clinic Center for Innovation, truly transforming the health care expe-rience is about meeting patients at home or wher-ever is most convenient, responding to their needs using all available resources through a team-based care model, and reorienting the delivery model away from bricks and mortar.

“We will realize fairly quickly that we need to change the focus of the health care industry to creat-ing health, not just producing health care,” Wood says. “And when you do that, it will change the focus away from the experience within hospitals and clinics to the true, complete patient experience. It’s nice to have a hospital that has lots of amenities but, really, not too many of us look forward to scheduling a stay in a hospital as though we would look forward to going on a cruise.”

This gatefold will explore how organizations can make systemic changes in the patient experi-ence, using best practices and tools from some of the top performers.•

R e s e a r c h b y   M a r t y S t e m p n i a k

KEY STEPS FOR LEADERSHIPThere are a few key steps that hospital and health system leaders can take to help systemically address the patient experience.

1. FOSTER STAFF UNDERSTANDING OF THE PATIENT EXPERIENCE AND THE RELATIONSHIP IT HAS WITH OTHER ASPECTS OF CARE.

• The relationship between the patient experience and clinical outcomes

• The relationship between the patient experience and patient engagement

• The role of the patient experience in the hospi-tal’s � nancial success

2. DEMONSTRATE EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP INVOLVEMENT IN IMPROVING THE PATIENT EXPERIENCE.

• Continuously demonstrate, both visibly and verbally, that the patient experience is a top priority.

• Make weekly executive rounds.

• Monitor and share scores, celebrate success and encourage additional improvement.

• Support sta� e� orts to succeed (tools, training, cheerleading).

3. IMPLEMENT BEST PRACTICES.

• Purposeful hourly rounding

• Bedside shi� reporting

• Post-discharge phone calls

• Scripts, logs, other tools

• Monitoring, feedback coaching on all tactics

• Sta� bonuses tied to scores Source: Press Ganey, 2013

This gatefold is sponsored by:

THE PATIENT EXPERIENCETaking it to the next level

THE PATIENT EXPERIENCETaking it to the next level

pGate1-2_HHN0413.indd 1 3/27/13 1:38 PM

BEYOND JUST ACING THE SURVEYExperts say that hospitals shouldn’t get too caught up in just acing the HCAHPS survey, and should look at mea-sures beyond that aren’t addressed there. While each of the HCAHPS measures is admittedly important, enhancing the patient experience should not be limited to pursuing just these measures, according to the Advisory Board Co.

Source: The Advisory Co. , 2012

• Ongoing emotional support

• Family involvement and care team integration

• Avoidable disrup-tions minimized

• Compassionate, empathetic caregivers

• Clear, actionable patient education

• Up-to-date and thorough information

• Physical and emotional needs anticipated

HCAHPS• Communication• Quiet at night• Information about medications• Discharge information• Cleanliness• Responsiveness• Pain management

The PatientExperience Sphere

CLEVELAND CLINIC USES CULTURE TRAINING TO TRANSFORM EXPERIENCEThe Cleveland Clinic has used culture training to help transform the patient experience from top to bottom in recent years. It has seen patient and staff satisfaction leap, thanks to its eff orts. Forrester Research took a closer look at what strategies the clinic used to get to where it is today:

MOVING AWAY FROM CONVEYOR-BELT CARETo achieve the truly ideal patient experience, offi cials at the Mayo Clinic’s Center for Innovation say that hospitals must move away from the old model of “conveyor-belt care” — in which the patient just moves along a line from provider to provider with no real coordination — to a team-based, “wrap-around” approach.

THE CURRENT MODEL: CONVEYOR-BELT CAREToday’s model of care deals mostly in face-to-face interactions between patients and other clinicians, and is too focused on acute care and reactive medicine, according to Mayo.

THE FUTURE MODEL: WRAP-AROUND CAREIn the new model, patients are put right at the center and surrounded by all sorts of clinical and nonclinical care providers; it is focused on population health, prevention strategies and a proactive approach that maximizes value and the patient experience.

THE PATIENT EXPERIENCETaking it to the next level

HCAHPS TAKES A BIGGER PROPORTION OF THE PIEProviders must devote added attention to patient experience within the Medicare value-based pur-chasing program — reflected in hospitals’ HCAHPS survey scores. Patients’ perspectives of care will continue to equal 30 percent of VBP scores over the next three years, while other pieces of the pie are divvied up among di� erent concerns.

HOSPITALS UPPING THE GAME IN COMMUNICATIONThe average percentage of patients giving “top box” responses — or the most positive possible answer — on HCAHPS surveys has gone up consistently since January 2008 in two categories critical to the patient experience. About 81 percent of patients surveyed said their doctors “always” communicated with them, up from around 79 percent; and more than 78 percent said nurses “always” communicated with them , up from less than 74 percent.

Coremeasures

70%

Source: Press Ganey Associates Inc., 2013

The Mayo Clinic Center for Innovation, 2012

LPN

RN

MD Dietician

Wellnessadvocate

Care coordinator RN

Phone RN

Resident MD

SpecialistNurse practitionerSocial

worker

Physical therapist Care

assistant

Community health worker

PATIENT PANEL

CHANGE IN PERFORMANCE SINCE BASELINE “Communication with doctors” domain average top box percent

Source: Press Ganey Associates Inc., 2013

82% ...........................................................................................................................

81 .............................................................................................................................

80 ............................................................................................................................

79 .............................................................................................................................

78 .............................................................................................................................

77 .............................................................................................................................

76 .............................................................................................................................

75 .............................................................................................................................

74 .............................................................................................................................

73 .............................................................................................................................

72 .............................................................................................................................1/08 5/08 9/08 1/09 5/09 9/09 1/10 5/10 9/10 1/11 5/11 9/11 1/12 5/12 9/12

...........................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................

BA

SEL

INE

PER

IOD

...........................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................

PER

FOR

MA

NC

E P

ERIO

D

CHANGE IN PERFORMANCE SINCE BASELINE “Communication with nurses” domain average top box percent

82% ...........................................................................................................................

81 .............................................................................................................................

80 ............................................................................................................................

79 .............................................................................................................................

78 .............................................................................................................................

77 .............................................................................................................................

76 .............................................................................................................................

75 .............................................................................................................................

74 .............................................................................................................................

73 .............................................................................................................................

72 .............................................................................................................................1/08 5/08 9/08 1/09 5/09 9/09 1/10 5/10 9/10 1/11 5/11 9/11 1/12 5/12 9/12

...........................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................

BA

SEL

INE

PER

IOD

...........................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................

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.............................................................................................................................

PER

FOR

MA

NC

E P

ERIO

D

Coremeasures

45%

Coremeasures

20%

E� ciency 20%

Outcomes 30%

HCAHPS30%

HCAHPS30%

HCAHPS30%

Outcomes 25%

2013

2014

2015

CLEVELAND CLINIC’S PATIENT EXPERIENCE TEAM FOUND THAT ALL STAFF MEMBERS

MUST CONTRIBUTE TO OPTIMIZING A PATIENT’S

VISIT, INCLUDING:

• Clinical staff (doctors, nurses, etc.)

• Administrative staff (check-in, billing, etc.)

• Facilities staff (janitorial, maintenance, etc.)

• Management (department heads, senior executives, etc.)

• Information technology

THE PATIENT EXPERIENCE TEAM

DEVELOPED AN ORGANIZATIONWIDE

CULTURE-CHANGE EXERCISE THAT:

• Achieved C-suite buy-in and support

• Focused on vision and importance to the patient

• Used focus groups with patients and other stakeholders to design the process

• Implemented a 1,000-member employee pilot

EVERY STAFF MEMBER WENT THROUGH A

CULTURE-CHANGE EXERCISE, EIGHT AT A TIME:

• $11 million enterprise cost

• All employees, including doctors, were randomly assigned tables. An employ-ee facilitator walked each attendee through: – Mission and vision– Expected service behaviors– HEART — Hear the story,

Empathize, Apologize, Respond to the problem, Thank the patient (service recovery)

– “Serving leader” leadership model introduction

– Value exercise

CLEVELAND CLINIC BOOSTED ITS MEASURABLE SCORES FOLLOWING THE EFFORT:

• Patients reported higher satisfaction and com-plaints decreased on HCAHPS scores.

• Staff appreciated the pro-gram; employee engage-ment increased and 92 percent reported satisfac-tion.

Source: Forrester Research Inc., 2012

1 2 3 4

CASE STUDY

“We need to change the focus of the health

care industry to creating health, not just

producing health care”Douglas Wood, MD

director of strategy and policy,Mayo Clinic Center

Source: The Advisory Board Co., 2012

Gap Gap Gap

Patient L.P.N.Patient M.D.Patient DieticianPatient

Gap in care Gap in care Gap in care

Care assistant

* *

pGate1-2_HHN0413.indd 2 3/27/13 1:38 PM

Every Patient Has a Story.Every Voice Matters.

Press Ganey’s unique approach to improvement gives every patient the opportunity to be heard.

With deeper patient feedback, you can see and understand thousands of daily touchpoints across

the entire care experience. Know how patients rate your organization, and why.

Deeper data gives you the ability to drill down so you can address the needs of your unique patient

populations and improve the quality and safety of care more quickly.

Through advanced analytics and strategic advisory services, we help you drive targeted performance

improvement to enhance the patient experience and achieve operational excellence.

Learn more at pressganey.com.

Listen Deeply — Give Every Patient the Chance to Be Heard

© 2013 Press Ganey Associates, Inc.OPEN

Maximizing the patient’s experience is a hot topic for hospital executives. While this notion isn’t new, it’s been pushed to the forefront because of satisfaction surveys, increased competition and the Yelp-ifi cation of health care.

While many have made gains, some pro-viders have struggled to transform the patient environment in a timely manner, or to sustain those improvements. Experts say that too many hospital leaders confuse optimizing satisfac-tion with advancing the patient experience.

“The experience is not about happiness. It’s about patients being respected, being communicated with, and having their care coordinated in such a way that they can get the best possible clinical outcome for whatever their circumstances are,” says Patrick Ryan, CEO of Press Ganey. “Let’s look at the patient experience in total as reducing su� er-ing and reducing anxiety. And when you do that,

you look across the entire continuum of care, from the fi rst phone call to the patient’s being discharged.”

Improving communication — on medication at the bedside and with both patients and their families — is a critical element of bolstering the health care experience, says James Merlino, M.D., chief experience o� cer for the Cleveland Clinic, one of the fi rst providers to create such a position. If hospital leaders want to take the patient encounter to the next level, they need to focus on creating and sustaining a culture, aligned around patient-centeredness, along with engaging the people doctors are treating.

The biggest challenge Merlino sees hospitals facing in this e� ort is fi guring out where to start, and defi ning exactly what the “patient experience” means.

“Everybody has a per-spective on what

you need to do to fi x the patient experience, but if you don’t take control of that debate and push all of your resources toward high-value tactics, you’re not going to be successful,” Merlino says. “I think what happens is people, organizations, leaders, managers tend to sputter out.”

Some, working in the smaller community hospi-tals, worry that patient experience initiatives are overly focused on shiny bells and whistles at the bedside, which they can’t replicate on their shoestring budgets. Large systems can hire extra sta� to tackle an issue, but that’s not an option at 162-bed Onslow Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville, N.C. Instead, leaders there are focused on simpler ways of improving their culture, such as using navigators to help comorbid patients fi nd their way around the hospital and having care teams “huddle up” to assess the situation at hand and work on patient hando� s.

Despite a hospital’s best e� orts, there are always certain patients who behave “irrationally” and are determined to leave negative feedback on a survey, says Onslow CEO Ed Piper. The best you can do is to acknowledge and assure the patient that the culture is safe and caring, and set the stage for the best experience through careful communication and the display of human kindness from any sta� member, clinical or nonclinical, who encounters the patient.

For Douglas Wood, M.D., director of strat-egy and policy for the Mayo Clinic Center for Innovation, truly transforming the health care expe-rience is about meeting patients at home or wher-ever is most convenient, responding to their needs using all available resources through a team-based care model, and reorienting the delivery model away from bricks and mortar.

“We will realize fairly quickly that we need to change the focus of the health care industry to creat-ing health, not just producing health care,” Wood says. “And when you do that, it will change the focus away from the experience within hospitals and clinics to the true, complete patient experience. It’s nice to have a hospital that has lots of amenities but, really, not too many of us look forward to scheduling a stay in a hospital as though we would look forward to going on a cruise.”

This gatefold will explore how organizations can make systemic changes in the patient experi-ence, using best practices and tools from some of the top performers.•

R e s e a r c h b y   M a r t y S t e m p n i a k

KEY STEPS FOR LEADERSHIPThere are a few key steps that hospital and health system leaders can take to help systemically address the patient experience.

1. FOSTER STAFF UNDERSTANDING OF THE PATIENT EXPERIENCE AND THE RELATIONSHIP IT HAS WITH OTHER ASPECTS OF CARE.

• The relationship between the patient experience and clinical outcomes

• The relationship between the patient experience and patient engagement

• The role of the patient experience in the hospi-tal’s � nancial success

2. DEMONSTRATE EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP INVOLVEMENT IN IMPROVING THE PATIENT EXPERIENCE.

• Continuously demonstrate, both visibly and verbally, that the patient experience is a top priority.

• Make weekly executive rounds.

• Monitor and share scores, celebrate success and encourage additional improvement.

• Support sta� e� orts to succeed (tools, training, cheerleading).

3. IMPLEMENT BEST PRACTICES.

• Purposeful hourly rounding

• Bedside shi� reporting

• Post-discharge phone calls

• Scripts, logs, other tools

• Monitoring, feedback coaching on all tactics

• Sta� bonuses tied to scores Source: Press Ganey, 2013

This gatefold is sponsored by:

THE PATIENT EXPERIENCETaking it to the next level

THE PATIENT EXPERIENCETaking it to the next level

pGate1-2_HHN0413.indd 1 3/27/13 1:38 PM