Putting the Care into Your Health

• Leadership
• October 3, 2014
• by Emily Turner

Health care is a common denominator throughout our lives. Who doesn’t want the very best? Having worked with many health care industry clients over the years, I can tell you firsthand that the vast majority of health care leaders want to deliver the very best. In fact, the most astute realize that creating a culture where the patient is the main focus is a win-win, as it benefits both the patients served and the bottom line. This is where “patient-centered excellence” comes in, and if you’re in health care today, this approach is gaining a lot of traction. In fact, Johns Hopkins appointed their first-ever Chief Patient Experience Officer just last week.

After spending a fascinating two days at BLG’s, a HealthStream Company, recent “Leading Innovation in the Patient Experience” summit, I learned that it is up to leaders to set the tone and “role-model” the behavior they want to see from dedicated physicians, nurses and staff that deliver patient care. This includes everything from making eye contact with patients, their families and staff members as you walk down the hall to picking up that piece of trash lying just outside the hospital’s entryway.

As someone who has been a patient several times, I have had good experiences and bad ones. Unfortunately, the bad experiences tend to linger. One of BLG’s mantras that is easy to remember but difficult to implement is, “every patient, every time, every interaction.” The goal is to develop a culture of “always” and, again, leaders must set the tone. This can be done through a variety of proven tactics, including: increasing accountability, developing employee-led teams to facilitate patient engagement and speaking the patient’s language. This last area rang true as “speaking the patient’s language” is similar to what we teach at Spaeth about jargon. If the target audience (aka: the patient) doesn’t understand what you’re (aka: the health care provider) saying, they stop listening. Failure to listen to your doctor or nurse could have life and death consequences.

Practice Leader Katie Owens opened the summit with the following statement: “Creating a world-class experience that matches the clinical experience at our partnering hospitals and health systems is our goal.” If this summit and the large number of leaders who attended is any indication of what is to come, you can rest a little easier knowing that there are a lot of dedicated individuals out there working hard to ensure that you will receive the best care possible, every time.

To read more about BLG and their clients’ success stories, please visit http://www.bhclg.com/.