One Size Doesn’t Fit All: A Custom Approach to Enhancing Patient Experience

May 23, 2017

// By Lisa D. Ellis //

At a children’s hospital in Massachusetts, families of patients trying to park their cars in the very crowded multilevel garage will find a valet waiting at the top level to take the vehicle for them if the lot is full. This helps to relieve parents’ stress and makes a difficult day a little easier.

This is just one example of how an organization can make a small change that will have a big impact on the patient experience.

Strengthening the Experience Journey

Stacy Palmer, CPXP, senior vice president of The Beryl Institute

Stacy Palmer, CPXP, senior vice president of The Beryl Institute

Other organizations can learn from this—and the many other examples that exist—on how to strengthen the “experience journey” for patients and their families, which in turn then improves the experiences of the staff who work with them.

In fact, in recent years, the health care field has been increasingly focused on improving the experience journey, since such experience is increasingly tied to ratings, reimbursement rates, and reputation. Yet some health systems are not yet strategically taking advantage of the opportunities that exist for improvement in this area, according to Stacy Palmer, CPXP, senior vice president of The Beryl Institute.

Helping Organizations Connect with Patients

Based near Dallas, Texas, The Beryl Institute helps health organizations navigate the maze of the patient experience and determine how the concept really applies to the work they are doing daily. To this end, the institute serves as a hub, linking groups together to share lessons learned and experiences that can enhance one another’s efforts.

The Beryl Institute’s sister organization, Patient Experience Institute (PXI), also provides formal certification and continuing education for patient experience professionals. Together, both organizations work to advance the health field to better embrace and support the patient experience journey.

“At The Beryl Institute, we have become a hub to collect and share all of the great work,” Palmer says, adding, “We have community-developed programs to teach [some of] the skills leaders need to be effective.” The institute also provides case stories, white papers, virtual programs, and events to connect people to share information.

Different Strokes for Different Folks

While there is broad agreement today within the health care field about the importance of patient experience, Palmer points out that the institute has recognized the reality that every organization is different and, therefore, how each one approaches improving the patient experience will vary from system to system, depending on their specific circumstances. In fact, every organization may have a different definition of what patient experience really is and how it will go about ensuring patients are satisfied with the care they receive within the network.

Such variability that exists actually led the institute early on to try to get some consensus of what its focus should be to have the great impact on helping groups maximize their efforts in this area.

“One of the first things we did seven years ago [when we began] was to draw together patient experience leaders to develop a definition of what patient experience is,” explains Palmer. This definition now forms the core of the institute’s work. “The leaders [ultimately] defined patient experience as the sum of all interactions shaped by an organization’s culture across the continuum of care,” she says.

But while the definition gives a common ground from which groups can work, the path they take can be very different. “We don’t think there is any one experience model that works for everyone. It is different for every organization,” she says.

Therefore, every group must develop its own experience map based on its unique circumstances.

Attributes Linked to Success in Improving Experience

But despite the differences that exist among organizations, staff at The Beryl Institute recently identified common traits, attributes, or actions exhibited regularly by organizations that are particularly successful with their efforts. They discovered that certain practices have a high correlation with success.

These include:

  • Having a serious commitment from leadership to improve or support patient experience—and a focused intent to shape and guide a strategy to do so.
  • Creating a strong, vibrant, and positive organizational culture that nurtures and supports patients and staff.
  • Establishing a formal definition of exactly what patient experience means in this organization.
  • Implementing a defined process for patient and family input and engagement in the improvement process.
  • Involving staff, patients, and family in creating system-wide and lasting change.
  • Looking beyond the clinical care experience to all interactions and touchpoints.
  • Aligning all aspects of the organization, care continuum, and culture.
  • Encompassing a comprehensive focus that incorporates healing and also includes a commitment to wellness and good health.

Other Lessons Learned to Improve Patient Experience

Naming a chief patient experience officer who reports directly to the CEO and who can help influence an organization’s strategy and increase effectiveness in this area has also been linked to success in improving patient experience. “We are seeing the majority of organizations today do have some sort of experience leaders in place,” Palmer says, but not all of them have the authority to accomplish their widespread goals.

But it’s important to have genuine ongoing support in this area, and also to empower the entire staff to value the experience journey, including not only clinical and support staff but also housekeeping, maintenance, dietary staff, and anyone else who works in your setting, she adds.

A Role for Marketers

Further, marketers can be an important resource to help support an organization’s efforts to improve the patient experience and maximize their potential.

“Marketers have the skill set to listen to what patients (and staff) need and to share and support them,” Palmer says. “A critical element in addressing patient experience is to seek continuous input from patients and family members. It’s all about connections,” she adds, pointing out that when people served by your organization are happy, their happiness is contagious. This means when your patients are satisfied with your organization, your staff may also have deeper on-the-job satisfaction, too, so your organization will benefit from these efforts on many levels.

Putting Experience to Work for Patients

Tria Deibert, vice president of experience marketing at Hackensack Meridian Health

Tria Deibert, vice president of experience marketing at Hackensack Meridian Health

As vice president of experience marketing for Hackensack Meridian Health in New Jersey, Tria Deibert has a unique chance to help the large health system make a deeper connection with its patients.

“Today, I create the bridge between marketing and the office of human experience. I report to our chief marketing officer and have a reporting relationship with our new chief experience officer,” Deibert says.

She explains that her role includes collaborating with clinicians on how to strengthen the patient experience.

“I always say the best marketing for our health system is the experience [clinicians and staff] provide—marketing can tell our story but the story has to be powerful, infused with quality and connected with the hearts and minds of our customers. In health care, or any industry that provides a service, your experience is your brand,” she stresses.

She adds that in any setting, marketers also play a key role in advancing experience strategies for their organizations.
“Marketers are poised to thoughtfully and meaningfully bring the voice of the customer forward to drive development of strategy, creatively package solutions so they are heartwired and connect with providers, patients and family members, and tell our brand story,” she points out.

At Hackensack Meridian Health, this has translated into an organization-wide commitment, along with a deep understanding that focusing on ensuring a high-quality patient experience is a long-term process, not a quick fix.

“It’s not about just creating a new campaign or a marketing strategy to drive ROI—you really have to dig in, be an agent of change, and bring all the right people together to reduce friction in the customer experience,” she says. When everything comes together in just the right way, she says that it can really lead to best results for all who come in contact with the health system.

Lisa D. Ellis is the editor of Strategic Health Care Marketing. She is a journalist and content development specialist who helps hospitals and other health care providers and organizations shape strategic messages and communicate them to their target audiences. You can reach her at editor@strategicHCmarketing.com.