Becker's Hospital Review

27 PATIENT EXPERIENCE Kathleen Sanford, RN CNO of CommonSpirit Health (Chicago) Every team member in our hospitals can do one very simple thing each and every day to improve overall patient experience: Give everyone they deal with a few minutes of undivided attention — 180 seconds or so of complete care and concentration. In our complex, IT-centric, productivity-driven rush to complete all of our procedures and tasks, we oen can be less than completely attentive to the single-most important person we deal with — the patient who has come to us for care. Just 180 seconds or so of real listening — focused, nonscripted attentiveness, eye contact and true empathy for a vulnerable fellow human — makes a world of difference. It will not only change the patient experience — by demonstrating that we see and care about each one — but it will also help us avoid our own burnout while we gain insights to improve care for all the people who come to us for help. Linda Venner, MD Senior medical director of med surg operations for Intermountain Healthcare (Salt Lake City) Make the patient the center of the team! During 2019, our Intermountain Hospitalists Group developed and implemented a program of dyad rounding at all of our trauma and community hospitals. Dyad rounding incorporates three vital behaviors: the hospitalist provider round[s] with the patient and bedside nurse; the nurse verbally reports a safety checklist; and the provider completes a directly observed coaching session to improve communication skills. During rounding, the treatment team solicits and answers patient questions and ends by writing the patient's goal for the day on a whiteboard, so all caregivers interacting with the patient know what to focus on that day. n 55% of healthcare orgs say patient experience work still needs improvement By Mackenzie Bean E ighty percent of healthcare leaders cite patient experience as a top priority for their organizations in the next three years, according to a report from The Beryl Institute. Service Management Group created the report on behalf of The Beryl Institute. Researchers polled more than 1,500 healthcare professionals from 34 different countries, including directors (39 percent), C-level leaders (17 percent) and providers (17 percent). Four report findings: 1. Respondents cited staff and provider engage- ment (94 percent), culture and leadership (93 per- cent), and clinical excellence (82 percent) as the top three factors influencing patient experience. 2. Twenty-two percent of respondents said their organizations solely rely on CAHPS to guide patient experience efforts. 3. Thirty-one percent of respondents said their organizations' patient experience efforts are well established. Fifty-five percent said these efforts are established but have room for improvement. 4. Thirty-nine percent of respondents said chief experience officers are most accountable for patient experience at their organizations. Thirty-one percent came from organizations where ownership of patient experience was not clearly defined. n Consumers still prefer in-person healthcare interactions to digital services, BCBS report finds By Andrea Park T hough patients are interested in and, in many cases, willing to pay extra for digital and virtual health services, they continue to place more value on meaningful in-person interactions with their care teams, according to a report published Dec. 5, 2019. Here are four takeaways from the report, a survey of more than 1,500 Americans from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona and the Los Angeles-based USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics. 1. More than half of respondents said they would be likely to have a virtual visit with a healthcare provider for immediate answers to ur- gent health-related issues. Additionally, nearly 70 percent said they would be likely to use an app or online system to receive reminders for appointments, screenings, refills and other healthcare needs. 2. Forty-five percent of respondents were willing to pay extra to ac- cess those digital services. Of that group, the average amount they would be willing to pay per month was $57; that amount dropped to $25 across all respondents. 3. Despite this interest in digital interventions, however, when asked about their priorities in healthcare interactions, the respon- dents overwhelmingly ranked more traditional aspects, such as high-quality interactions with their physicians, much higher than access to online and virtual services. 4. These findings demonstrate the importance of asking consum- ers about their preferences, rather than forging blindly ahead with the most advanced technology, Dana Goldman, PhD, director of the USC Schaeffer Center, said in a news release. "People will say they are interested in many features, but in the real world they must make tradeoffs with valuable premium dollars to meet their priorities," Dr. Goldman explained. n

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