Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/501108
15 Question: Can you recall a patient that influenced your out- look and drive to improve the patient experience? Dr. Lisa Allen: This is a story from way back in my career. I was reading a survey comment and a patient had written, 'I'm a judge. I'm 82 years old and I'm called 'Judge.' When I came to the hos- pital, the staff said, 'Hi Joe, how are you doing?' Nobody calls me Joe, not even my wife. I'm called Judge.' We often forget about people's identities and what they bring with them to the hospital. When they become a patient, they risk losing that. People have complex lives, and it's important to remember this in the hospital. Dr. Adrienne Boissy: Yes. I probably had two experiences that really led to my work in patient experience. The first occurred when I was a neurology intern. As an intern, you don't have any idea what you're doing. I had a patient assigned to me who was recently diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and I got to know her over a couple of days. She was in her twenties. Her family and boyfriend were always there with her. One night I was taking call with one of the residents when I got paged that she wanted me to come talk to her. I wanted someone else to go instead because I was afraid I wouldn't be able to answer her questions, but she had asked for me. I ran to the call room and read about MS for 10 min- utes. Armed with my new knowledge, I went to her bedside. She said, 'Well, I was wondering whether or not you thought I should marry my boyfriend, so when I become unable to walk and am in a wheelchair, he could take care of me.' I was really stunned. Here I was as a young physician thinking all I had to offer was medical knowledge, and the one thing she needed from me was to know that I could see her for who she was and what she was struggling with in that moment. Many years later, I had become a MS specialist and inherited a large practice. I was able to tell several patients good news — that they actually didn't have MS. I thought this was a wonderful thing. I knew I was being honest with them and had reviewed their medical records in detail. However, some of the patients became very angry with me. I couldn't understand why at first, but when I thought about it some more, I realized that without having a trust- ing relationship, when there is bad or complex news, the patient doesn't hear you. It was a pivotal moment when I realized the importance of relationships in healthcare. Brian Carlson: Yes, there are two patients, who I think are sym- bolic of two groups of patients. The first was a patient who had some very acute problems and whose family was very concerned he would not live. For that patient and his family, the first prior- ity was ensuring that everything was being done to help the pa- tient. The patient's experience was tied directly to outcomes, and communication was key to that. The patient was expecting con- stant updates from the team and was gauging his experience — not only on the outcome but on how the healthcare team kept him informed of what was going on. This experience solidified for me the importance of communication, and the experience includes both the patient and his or her family. The second patient was a rather healthy individual that suffered from some chronic problems that required frequent visits. For this pa- tient, communication was important for ensuring her continued good health, but she also paid attention to the friendliness of all staff, con- venience, timeliness, parking, etc. The small details mattered for this patient. I realized that these patients are relying on us for a lifetime of wellness and they have choices on where they can go. Tom Malasto: There are numerous patients that come to mind, including a 72-year-old daughter struggling to understand her 92-year-old mother's billing statements. A mother of four young children who was frustrated by her inability to schedule all of her children's routine physician visits on the same day to minimize her time off from work. The two sons of a 78-year-old father who had questions regarding their role in his care following a lengthy and complicated hospital stay. A frustrated and angry mother who felt her observations and opinions regarding her child's health condi- tion were ignored. Each of these and many others shape our ef- forts to meaningfully listen to and engage our customers toward improvements. Dr. Thomas Savides: There was a gentleman who recently met with me and our CEO who articulated all the ways our system failed him, and that he was compelled to tell us so these things would not happen to other patients. He outlined a series of bad experiences, including not getting phone calls returned, poor way- finding, lack of adequate parking, doctors not listening while typ- ing on the computer, staff not introducing themselves and phy- sicians not communicating with each other. Together, these left him feeling unsafe and unable to trust his healthcare to our sys- tem. He could have been any patient. He could have been a friend or a family member. He could have been me. Q: How do you remain connected to and informed by pa- tients? LA: We have very active patient and family advisory councils that I sit on and a clinical community. The clinical community is made up of representatives from all of the patient and family advisory committees throughout the system. They have a strong voice in how we develop and implement things. I also stay informed by patients during executive rounding, where we go out and visit with patients and staff. I do observation, and I help lost people navi- gate their way through the complex organization. We also have service meetings in which we share stories, complaints and com- pliments, and analyze data. AB: I'm still at physician at the Cleveland Clinic Mellen Center for Multiple Sclerosis and I am on hospital rotations, so I com- municate with patients all the time. We have a patient advisory board, and something we are considering now is launching an online physician ratings site, so patients' comments on their care experience with a specific physician could be public facing. We're having an empathy and patient experience summit at the end of May, and we want the patients to attend, have their voices heard and help advise the content of the program. On a more granular level, executive rounding and just rounding with patients helps me stay connected to them. I stay informed by being very intentional about asking patients for their opinions and feedback. One of my favorite phrases is 'tell me more.' BC: There are four ways we try to remain connected across a health system that generate several thousand unique patient touches and experiences every day. The first is through our sur- vey data, which is retrospective and allows us to look for pat- terns in our processes that are working well or maybe need some