Thank you to the more than 840 people who attended the third annual Patient Experience Empathy and Innovation Summit on May 20-22 at the InterContinental Hotel & Conference Center on Cleveland Clinic's campus in Cleveland, Ohio. Attendees came from 34 states and 28 countries, representing hundreds of hospitals, healthcare systems and businesses.
Two sessions were featured on Sunday, May 20, including “Digital and Social Media in Healthcare" and "Translating the Language of Caring.” The digital media session highlighted how healthcare providers can mobilize the power of digital media to make healthcare better, faster, more personal and affordable. It also explored the latest social media technologies and their roles in patient care, research and education.
The "Translating the Language of Caring" session demonstrated the importance of empathetic care through active listening and relationship-building with patients. Discussions about optimizing rounding efforts and the skills behind compassionate care were also part of this session.
The "Business of Patient Experience" session featured a panel discussion on the importance of including patient experience in strategic planning. Harley Manning, Vice President and Research Director at Forrester Research, said, “Write down these words: I need my customers more than they need me. Look at that every day, because it’s so easy to forget that. Experience what it’s like to be one of your own customers.”
Dr. Toby Cosgrove, Cleveland Clinic President and CEO, explained that every one of Cleveland Clinic’s 43,000 employees have spent half-day sessions dedicated to improving the patient and employee experiences while learning to how express empathy and skills to connect better with patients.
Jenn Lim, CEO and Chief Happiness Officer at Delivering Happiness, delivered a presentation on customer satisfaction from her experiences working with Zappos, one of Fortune’s 2011 “100 Best Companies to Work For.” Centering on how companies can successfully create cultures based on happiness and be profitable at the same time, Lim advised, “Make customer service a priority for the whole company, not just a department.” She also stressed that the number one priority of Zappos is company culture, saying, “If you have a higher purpose for employees and a vision they can relate to, even the most mundane activities can be inspiring.”
Several Cleveland Clinic patients spoke of their experiences, including correspondent and host of NPR’s Weekend Edition Scott Simon, who discussed the patient perspective and the need for a trusting relationship between them and their care teams. “The role everyone plays in healing is different,” said Simon. “But each one of those roles is equally important.”
Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Nancy McDonnell, a double-lung transplant recipient, offered up a bit of advice to hospitals when she said, “You need to hire caregivers who have both brains and heart." We also heard Doug Lyons’s inspiring story of his family’s experiences. “Patients are people. Interesting, complicated, wonderful people. Listen to them,” said Lyons.
Rob Bazemore, President at Janssen Biotech, shared his personal story as a cancer survivor during a keynote presentation. Bazemore admitted that, during his course of treatment, he wondered if he would ever get to see his children grow up. He emphasized that a better patient experience equals better outcomes, and that his own patient experience is at the top of his mind every day when making strategic business decisions for Janssen, a member of the Johnson & Johnson family of companies.
Informative breakout sessions were led by subject-matter experts on relevant patient experience topics, such as “Building Your Office of Patient Experience,” led by Mary Linda Rivera, Executive Director of Patient Experience at Cleveland Clinic, and Nina Setia, Chief Experience Officer at New York University Langone Medical Center. In this engaging session, participants learned the necessary building blocks to developing a solid patient experience office, shared best practices on organizational structure and service improvement programs, and reviewed key elements in shifting the culture of an organization to one that recognizes the need for a strong patient experience.
In the “Developing a Service Excellence Program” breakout session, hosted by Toya Gorley, Director of Service Excellence and Patient Advocacy at Cleveland Clinic, participants learned key elements of Cleveland Clinic’s Communicate with H.E.A.R.T.™, a model for service excellence that is integrated into Cleveland Clinic’s culture. The discussion reviewed the importance of an organizational commitment to service excellence, the roles managers and supervisors play in establishing service excellence in their local areas, the results Cleveland Clinic has seen in changing employee culture to one that emphasizes a positive patient experience, and how this culture change can be implemented in any organization, regardless of size.
Dr. Adrienne Boissy, staff physician at Cleveland Clinic's Mellen Center for Multiple Sclerosis, led a lively panel discussion centered on “How to Improve Physician Communication with Patients,” which included six physicians discussing their focus on improving interactions between physicians and patients at their organizations and the benefits seen from this. Panelists explained the importance of asking patients more than “yes or no” questions and how improved physician communication leads to better outcomes, a physical sense of well-being and an improved level of patient satisfaction.
These and additional breakouts allowed for more in-depth discussions and gave attendees opportunities to learn from the presenters and share their own best practices.
During the three-day Summit, many panelists and presenters shared their thoughts on a wide variety of topics related to the patient experience, including strategies to improve the patient experience, employee engagement, hospital architecture, the business of art and medicine and more. Session summaries will be posted site soon. Please check back for more information.
Attendees were also invited to join the Association for Patient Experience, a nonprofit, 501c(3) organization established to support healthcare professionals, patients and their families.
In addition to our attendees, we also thank Johnson & Johnson Health Care Systems, Inc. (Premier Sponsor), Medical Mutual of Ohio and Press Ganey (Platinum Sponsors), and RL Solutions (Gold Plus Sponsor) for their tremendous support.
Save the Date 2013
Save the date now for the 2013 Empathy and Innovation Summit, to be held in Cleveland from May 19-21, 2013.