Becker’s Hospital Review outlines the problem well: “The hospital piques excitement when rolling out an improvement initiative. Then the initiative hits a plateau and the hospital scraps it for a new improvement initiative.”

For hospitals looking for techniques to help improve the longevity of patient experience initiatives, follow the tips below:

• Empower individuals to remain in touch with why they chose a healthcare profession. In order to make a patient experience initiative successful, everyone must be on board; even one person who is only “kind of” in tune with the shared goal can throw progress off track. Thus, it is essential for hospitals to empower each individual to obtain the spirit of patient experience improvement efforts. Oftentimes, this starts as a callback to the reason many people enter the healthcare profession: to help people.Help your hospital employees to get in touch with the deeper, compassionate reason behind their day-to-day work, and make your patient experience improvement initiatives more successful.
• Tap into the “Patients Come Second” philosophy. When focusing on improving the patient experience, it may not seem to make sense to take up a philosophy of “Patients Come Second.” The whole point of improving the patient experience is that patients should come first, right?But in reality, hospitals should be putting their employees first; it is only with satisfied, loyal, well-cared-for employees that hospitals can roll out successful patient experience initiatives and keep them up and running. For more information, check out BerylHealth Founder Paul Spiegelman’s new book, “Patients Come Second.”
• Give your new initiatives some time. One of the greatest missteps that hospitals make is abandoning patient experience improvement efforts far too soon. Give your initiatives time to unfold. Carefully track the way that your HCAHPS scores change over time. Then, and only then, can you decide whether you should alter certain aspects of your initiatives or whether the program should get the boot.

The value of your hospital’s marketing efforts can be quite significant. Meaningful marketing gets the word out about your brand, raises awareness aboutyour events and efforts in the community, and broadcasts your big wins; in turn, the efforts can help your organization to increase acquisition and boost patient satisfaction.

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But with all this focus on the patient experience, hospitals need to take a step back and realize that while PE is crucial, it is essential not to put on blinders and think of it as the silver bullet to fix all hospital system ails.

New research published in JAMA Surgery provides particularly sobering data that makes the argument for balance in all areas of hospital improvement, rather than maintaining a razor-sharp focus on PE only:

Researchers took a careful look at the relationship between patient satisfaction scores and surgical quality ratings. The results? “You may have found your doctor to be a great communicator, your hospital room clean and quiet and your pain well controlled,” writes Jordan Rau in a Kaiser Health News story on the research. “Yet a study finds these opinions are not barometers of whether your hospital’s surgical care is any good.”

The key here for hospitals, then, is to continue to focus on patient experience, but also to take a hard look at things being asked of them — delivering quality care, preparing for an influx of patients, transitioning to an ACO model, managing the health of populations, etc. — and find the areas that need improvement within your particular organization, rather than relying on a generalized, one-size-fits-all solution.

Realize, too, that there is always a common denominator — the patient — that should be shaping your improvement initiatives.

It is only with this inward-facing, high-level approach — rather than a focus on one single area like patient experience — that hospitals can continue to experience positive growth and can watch the key performance numbers across the board continue to climb.

• Many restaurants are giving consumers the convenient option of making reservations online. Give patients the opportunity to make appointments in ways that are similarly convenient.
• Starbucks has made a huge effort to make the atmosphere of its coffee shops relaxing, pleasant and sunny. Liven up the atmosphere in your hospital with additions as simple as indoor plants and a fresh coat of paint.
• Unlike fast-food restaurants that work to get people in and out as quickly as possible, high-end restaurants focus on retaining a loyal clientele by providing superior service and an unmatched experience. Put in that little extra time and effort with current patients to keep them coming back.

By stepping back and taking this big-picture look at the patient experience, your organization will be on track to getting crucial patient experience initiatives implemented, from the top down.

In the below article, Paul Clarke, Patient Experience Manager, NCH Healthcare System, discusses the value of post-discharge calling to increase patient satisfaction and improve HCAHPS scores through an in depth analysis of NCH’s challenges and results. As a partner in administering NCH’s post-discharge call program, BerylHealth is proud to share “Post-Discharge Calls & Improved Satisfaction.”

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Hospitals are no exception to this struggle.

During day-to-day efforts, your hospital’s administration is tuning in to the bottom line and process improvements, physicians are tending to patients, and the marketing department is spreading the word about coming events and health observation months.

But who is responsible for letting the community know about new efforts to improve patient satisfaction by upgrading inpatient meal offerings or by adding an appointment reminder service? Who is touting the efforts being put toward improving patient engagement and population health management?

Each organization has different needs; however, each hospital or system should work with the marketing department to develop an internal strategy that creates champions for your brand.

Otherwise, your efforts to improve the patient experience may do nothing for patient acquisition. Likewise, patients may not be aware that your physicians truly, deeply care about their well-being, despite intense internal efforts to boost patient education, patient accountability and management of chronic conditions.

This over-arching idea of creating an internal strategy to help determine the champions of your brand comes to life in a new series of ads from Texas Health Resources. Take a look:

The system conveys, in an engaging, light-hearted manner, that it’s putting efforts and investments toward making life better for its patients. Texas Health Resources is being a champion for its own efforts, connecting with the community, and shaping brand awareness and perceptions.

Who in your organization is championing its improvements?

“My friends at BerylHealth recently sent me a copy of their latest ACO infographic. The graphic does a nice job of simplifying a fairly complex topic while ultimately promoting BerylHealth. I thought it was worth sharing. Enjoy!”

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In the attached article, Paul Spiegelman, Founder of BerylHealth, discusses in his Inc.com column, “The Culture Gap,” how to mentor and segue a solid worker into a leader.

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Healthcare leaders were resistant of our Founder’s new book, Patients Come Second. But as momentum gains, the buy-in on employee engagement comes first to achieve the ultimate patient experience is resonating in the industry.

Take a look at the latest write-up from healthcare leader, Christina Thieist. 

But as hospitals feel the all-too-real impact of the physician/nurse shortage, along with increasing demands on tight budgets and the need to hit key performance numbers, the priority placed on appealing to those mixed emotions through empathy, excellent bedside manner and soft skills can sometimes get lost in the shuffle.

Whether physician, patient, nurse or hospital CMO, we’re all human; showing and receiving more compassion in our daily lives can help make the hospital — and the world — a better place. That’s why it’s essential, from time to time, for hospital leadership to take a long, hard look at the importance of these empathy skills and how to key into them as part of the organization’s overall mission — not only for the well-being of the patients, but also for the well-being of hospital staff, as well.

The following video from the Cleveland Clinic beautifully illustrates just why empathy and skills related to it are so important:

This old adage says it all: “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”

As this video shows, pausing to try to understand what others are thinking and feeling can be deeply moving — and may change the way you speak to and act toward others altogether.

Now: What is your organization doing to take small steps that make a positive impact on all who enter your hospitals doors? What your hospital doing to improve empathy skills with current staff, which, in turn, can make your organization more popular among patients, as well as a better workplace? When making hiring decisions, is your organization taking into account the importance of soft skills when interviewing prospective employees?

In a world of budget bottom lines and HCAHPS scores, it can be difficult to focus on empathy, which is not quantifiable. But what if it’s this unquantifiable quality — empathy — that helps move all those numbers you’re working to boost in the right direction, all while making the world a better place in the process?