Becker's Hospital Review

8 THOUGHT LEADERSHIP NewYork-Presbyterian CXO Rick Evans: An HCAHPS update is needed urgently By Rick Evans, Senior Vice President of Patient Services and Chief Experience Officer of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital V irtually every adult inpatient hospital in America administers the HCAHPS survey to patients. e data from these surveys are publicly reported for all to see, and star ratings are assigned to hospitals based on this patient feedback. In addition, results of these surveys are a driver of the government's Value-Based Purchasing program, which re- wards or penalizes hospitals based on perfor- mance. HCAHPS and other CMS-mandated quality measures are ingrained into most hos- pitals' goal setting and operations. e stakes on performance are high. When HCAHPS came into being in 2006, fol- lowed by the first public reporting of results in 2008, it was a game changer. e survey shined a bright light onto the importance of patient experience and elevated improvement work to a new level. ere were great benefits from this change. Patient experience improved across the country with survey measures rising year over year until the pandemic. e advent of HCAHPS moved many hospitals from an ad hoc approach to improving patient experience to a much more strategic stance. is was good for everyone — patients, families and our care teams. at was nearly 15 years ago. e survey tool and process has barely been adjusted since. At the same time, healthcare and our society have changed. Patient expectations and priorities have evolved dramatically, especially informed by their experiences in other parts of their lives. Technology has transformed many elements of the care experience that the HCAHPS survey measures. Healthcare has become an ecosys- tem of both in-person and virtual interactions. It's a whole different world. e survey that changed the landscape in 2006 is now outdated. It is only allowed to be admin- istered on paper. Additional survey modes — especially digital modes such as email and tex- ting — must be deployed. e questions asked also need to be re-evaluated to evolve with pa- tient expectations. An update is way past due and needs to happen now. If updates are not implemented soon, I fear that we risk losing some of what we have gained in recent years. A looming concern is that response rates for the paper HCAHPS survey are declining year over year. More paper surveys than ever land in the junk mail pile and eventually the trash. Lower response rates mean we are getting less and less feedback from our patients. is is noticed by our care teams - and especially our physicians and other clinicians. ey have been great partners in the work of improving patient experience. e relevancy of the data is para- mount to them. e credibility of our work is The advice 6 hospital leaders remember most By Kelly Gooch The Corner Office series asks healthcare leaders to answer questions about their life in and outside the office. In each interview, leaders share the piece of advice they re- member most clearly. Here are answers collected by Becker's Hospital Review since November. John Couris. President and CEO of Tampa (Fla.) General Hos- pital: My mentor, Doug Brown, former president of Enterprise Fleets and executive vice president of Enterprise Rent-A-Car, gave me the most critical piece of advice I have ever received (which is printed and sits on my desk to this day): "Never trade what you want most for what you want now." Conor Delaney, MD, PhD. President and CEO of Cleveland Clinic Florida (Weston): First, focus on providing the very best care you can for each individual patient, and relate to each patient to the best of your ability. Secondly, focus next on your team and being the best part of your team that you can be — this is how you can provide the best care. David Dill. Chair and CEO of LifePoint Health (Brentwood, Tenn.): My favorite piece of advice is from my father, who counseled me to always do the right thing — especially when no one is looking. These words of wisdom have served me well in my life both personally and professionally. Patrick Frias, MD. President and CEO of Rady Children's Hospital and Health Center (San Diego): Early in my career in Atlanta, my mentor Dr. Robert Campbell would say, "The foundation of any good business is service." We were both pediatric cardiologists at the time and we took those words to heart, making service the cornerstone of our clinical prac- tice. I believe those sage words are relevant to what we do at Rady Children's. We are here in the service of the children and families in our community. If we make decisions based on what's best for those we're here to serve, then I think we'll do a pretty good job of driving our business, which, in our case, is the business of caring for kids. Lisa Shannon. CEO of Allina Health (Minneapolis): I have many amazing mentors and have carried their advice with me throughout my career. Deeply understanding my strengths and weaknesses and ensuring I surround myself with leaders and teams who fill in the gaps has been a constant journey for me. Focusing on development, first of myself, then of those around me, is advice I will always keep close. Kate Walsh. President and CEO of Boston Medical Center: I reflect most on two pieces of advice, one practical and one spiritual. The practical advice was one "to do" list. If you are juggling work and family, you should put everything you need to do on one list and take things off the list over the course of the day; you can answer an email after 5 p.m., but if you call the orthodontist after 5 p.m., you can't change an appointment. The spiritual advice comes from Maya Angelou: "I've learned that people will forget what you've said, will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you make them feel." I try to live by and live up to those words every day. n

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