Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1149353
18 PATIENT EXPERIENCE Scripps CXO: How to make patient experience part of employees' daily routines By Mackenzie Bean T o improve patient experience, healthcare employees must always keep patients' needs top of mind, Ghazala Q. Sharieff, MD, corporate vice president and chief experience officer at San Diego-based Scripps Health, wrote in an article for Harvard Business Review. Scripps rolled out its "One ing Differ- ent" program last year, which challenges the system's 15,000 employees, 3,000 physicians and 2,000 volunteers to make simple changes in their daily routines that can positively affect patient experience. For clinicians, that action could be ask- ing patients what their biggest concern is, according to Dr. Sharieff. For a pa- tient transporter, it could be taking the time to make eye contact with patients and reassure them they are in good hands before a procedure. Scripps records each staff member's daily action on a dedicated website that has more than 4,000 entries to date. Since launching the program, the health system has seen a 6-percentile im- provement in patient experience scores systemwide. One pilot site also had a 13-percentile improvement in overall HCAHPS scores within six months. "Small changes can make a big differ- ence," Dr. Sharieff wrote. "Why don't we all start by asking our patients what their greatest concern is? … More broadly, let's actively encourage front-line staff to make simple, personal changes in their daily routines with patients that can make a difference to patients and to employees themselves." n VA hospitals use storytelling to strengthen patient-provider relationships By Anne-Marie Kommers A bout 40 U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals around the country are looking to use storytelling as a method for im- proving patients' relationships with their healthcare providers, according to NPR. The effort was inspired by a program called My Life, My Story, which launched in 2013 at the William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospi- tal in Madison, Wis. Elliot Lee, MD, laid the groundwork for the program in 2012 as a med- ical resident at the Madison VA. He wanted to help physicians get to know their patients better and came up with the idea of having a writer interview patients about their lives. The writer then summarized patients' stories in thousand-word biogra- phies, which were attached to the patients' medical records for clini- cians to read. Today, more than 2,000 Madison VA patients have their life stories in- cluded in their medical charts, and more than three dozen VA hospitals nationwide are also looking to develop a storytelling program. Research suggests that patients have better health outcomes when their providers know more about them. Healthcare providers also appreciate the storytelling method: A survey at the Madison VA showed that 85 percent of clinicians considered reading patients' stories to be a valu- able use of clinical time. n IU Health rolls out star ratings for 450 facilities: 3 things to know By Mackenzie Bean I ndianapolis-based Indiana University Health is rolling out online patient star ratings for about 450 of its facilities, reported Inside Indiana Business. Three things to know: 1. The ratings are based on patient experience survey results for each facility. Last year, IU Health patients completed 425,000 surveys. 2. The goal of the online patient ratings system is to improve clinicians' ac- cess to patient feedback and give patients more information about IU Health facilities and providers. 3. The health system will eventually expand the ratings system to all 600 of its affiliated facilities. n