Becker's Clinical Quality & Infection Control

20 PATIENT EXPERIENCE Driving excellence in the patient experience arena: Q&A with 2 Nemours leaders By Anuja Vaidya J acksonville, Fla.-based Nemours Children's Health System is focused on continuing to evolve its patient experience efforts. Here, Tina Arcidiacono, administrative director of patient experience and Peggy Greco, PhD, medical director of patient experience, discuss some of the les- sons they have learned and the importance of engagement among all stakeholders. Editor's note: Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length. Question: What is the most important lesson you have learned about deliv- ering excellent patient experience? Dr. Peggy Greco: Nemours has had a deliberate and specific program to optimize patient experience for 15 years via a combi- nation of continuous improvement, service excellence and effective communication. A key lesson learned was the importance of fully integrating the clinical perspective into our efforts. When clinicians are feeling engaged, it is likely that we will deliver outstanding patient experiences. Sustaining a commitment to excellent patient experi- ence requires the ongoing leadership and involvement of our doctors, nurses and other providers. Q: What are some ways in which you continue to drive excellence in patient experience? Ms. Tina Arcidiacono: Providers and col- leagues across Nemours continue to provide feedback that we've incorporated into our new model focused on our experience and under- standing of the correlation between engaged associates, both clinical and administrative, and patient satisfaction. Nemours' current approach to patient experience includes integrating these lessons learned in a new co-director structure for our patient experience function led by me, as administrative director for patient experience, and Dr. Peggy Greco, as medical director for patient experience. We both have enterprisewide responsibilities, reporting to human resources. Q: What has been the most success- ful patient experience initiative at your organization? PG: Our multidisciplinary improvement project resulted in an increase in satisfaction scores [in the Press Ganey patient satisfac- tion survey] from the 75th percentile in 2012 to the 98th percentile by the end of 2014. Further, clinician satisfaction also increased, in significant part due to the ongoing in- volvement and engagement of our clinicians in patient experience improvement efforts. We constantly assess the ways in which we consider the perspectives of our patients, families, clinicians and associates. We find that higher levels of engagement lead to greater success. Q: What excites you most about the future of patient experience? TA: Our team is excited about our evolv- ing patient experience model, particularly as Nemours moves toward value-based care. We recognize our existing skills and strengths and encourage associates — ever y day, at all levels — to demonstrate and celebrate how we put the patient experience first. n This pediatrician's secret weapon for patient engagement? Cartooning By Mackenzie Bean F or John Maypole, MD, a pediatrician at Boston Medical Center, cartooning is more than a hob- by; it's a way to help connect with his patients, reported The Boston Globe. Dr. Maypole serves as director of the hospital's Compre- hensive Care Program, which treats children with chron- ic medical conditions or developmental disabilities. He often draws cartoons for patients during check- ups to help make patients feel more comfortable. "It distracts them and redirects them from worrying about the flu shot they're getting today," Dr. Maypole told The Boston Globe. He said the activity also helps him get better insights into his patients' thoughts and fears. n Half of consumers unsatisfied with 2019 open enrollment experience, exit poll finds By Andrea Park N early 50 percent of consumers rated their healthcare open enrollment experience as average or below average, with nearly a quarter saying they lacked confidence in the health plans and benefits in which they enrolled, per the annual Alegeus exit poll. A major source of this lackluster response to the open enroll- ment process came from consumers' inability to fully compre- hend it. More than half reported being unable to understand the available plans and benefit packages, estimate resulting out-of-pocket costs and contributions, or determine the over- all best option for their families. Because of this lack of understanding, a full 70 percent of consumers said they simply re-enrolled in the same health plan they had the previous year, for the sake of familiarity. Even so, nearly one-third of respondents said they were un- sure of what health plan they had just enrolled in. n

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