Patient experience is an emerging field, driven in part by the increasing emphasis from regulation, reimbursement incentives, and consumer demands. It goes far beyond providing excellent clinical care. Care today requires that every aspect of the patients’ journey is considered and addressed. Some critical touchpoints in this journey include physical comfort, convenience, patient awareness and understanding of what’s happening, and meeting their emotional needs.
These are new demands that cannot go unnoticed. Are the leaders in your organization up to these new realities of delivering health care today? Are they focused on creating an excellent patient experience? Do you have “experience makers” in your organization?
I know that we have always emphasized keeping staff core competencies current and our licensing often requires CEU’s to ensure that as health care providers we are up to date with new clinical developments. But what about skills in the discipline and art of Patient Experience? Aren’t these skills equally important?
Many organizations understand the need to provide exemplary patient experiences but lack the knowledge and skills to get there. Being patient obsessed is more than an enhanced quality or patient satisfaction program assigned to the Director of Quality or Operations as “other duties.” Providing patient-focused care requires an understanding of many soft skills, and strategic and operational capabilities. Do key stakeholders have the knowledge to lead the effort toward a patient-focused culture of care?
One example, and there are many, of a Healthcare Organization that has developed a patient-centered culture is the Cleveland Clinic. At the clinic, their core belief is that the patient is central to all that they do. Through quality, improved access, and operational excellence, the Cleveland Clinic continues to build a healthcare system that is patient obsessed in their response to the historic realignments in our industry and the economy that creates values for the patient, families, providers and other stakeholders.
Enhancing patients’ health care experiences means more than just providing top-notch clinical care. The Triple Aim framework was designed to combat rising healthcare costs and was adopted by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) with the goal of optimizing healthcare systems. This framework reinforces the importance of achieving three goals in health care: improving the patient experience of care; improving the health of populations; and reducing the per capita costs of care. The first of these, improving the patient experience, benefits the healthcare organization as well as the patient. A better patient experience results in improved clinical and business outcomes. As competition for patients increases, patients may make provider choices based not only on clinical outcomes, but also on whether their provider delivers compassionate patient-centered care.
Are you and the leaders of your organization ready?
Obtaining formal education such as getting certified as a Patient Experience Specialist (PXS)™ ensures that you and your staff have the knowledge, skills, and tools to apply your learning within your organization. Be an organization of Patient Experience Makers!
