FEATURE LEADERS IN HEALTHCARE
Dr James Merlino offers insight into ‘The Patient Experience’ at Cleveland Clinic
one of his first priorities was to create a more patient-centered health system. One of his first initiatives was to introduce the phrase ‘Patients First.’ He recognized more and more that delivering high-quality healthcare was not enough - patients demanded a higher standard of service. He set the organization on a path to focus more on the patient and create a culture of ‘patient-centeredness’ across the Cleveland Clinic Health System. Through his efforts, Cleveland Clinic became the first major academic medical center to align patient experience as a strategic goal, the first to appoint a Chief Experience Officer, and one of the first academic medical centers to establish an Office of Patient Experience. James Merlino, M.D. is Cleveland Clinic’s Chief Experience Officer and, together with the Executive Chief Nursing Officer and the Chief Human Resources Officer, lead efforts to
W
hen Delos ‘Toby’ Cosgrove, M.D., was named CEO of Cleveland Clinic in 2005,
improve the patient experience. At the time of his appointment, the organization’s inpatient satisfaction scores, as measured by the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey developed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, needed “much improvement,” says Merlino. “There was poor communication between physicians and nurses. Patients complained they weren’t receiving calls back. There was a lot of work to be done.” Now patient experience is a key component of Cleveland Clinic’s strategic plan to achieve a coordinated delivery model that integrates patient-centered care with clinical outcomes, quality, safety, and employee experience. ‘Patients First’ is the guiding principle of Cleveland Clinic and the organization recognizes that a formula of empathic customer service plus high quality, innovative medical care will lead to a better patient experience. Patient experience is driven by two factors - processes of care linked by seamless transitions and cultural alignment around patient experience. Processes of care may include best practices such as reducing noise, improving communication among physicians, ensuring patient access and follow-up efforts - all of which enhances the overall healthcare operation. However, good processes are not
effective unless you have engaged employees. Therefore, Cleveland Clinic is heavily focusing on cultural alignment. Specifically, significant efforts to align culture around corporate values and patient experience, and engage employees to build a culture of excellent service are ongoing. “It’s in our vision statement and wrapped around our values,” remarks Merlino. It’s this combination of seamless processes and an engaged workforce that result in key
2011 Sustainable healthcare systems AGENDA LEADERS IN HEALTHCARE 2012
Session one Voice of a Patient: Value to the Nation True North: The strategy to adapt Our regional opportunity to lead Reversing outward flow of revenue
Session two Cross industry integration: A stakeholder’s perspective on technology Why PE is integral to the region Link the vital told of technology in the transition to PE excellence
Case study of the Disney pavilion, its story and its outcome
Session three Commercial viability in healthcare delivery: The economics of Patient Experience The business side of PE Why it makes economic sense in healthcare delivery
How to measure PE
Session four Creating a culture for Patient Experience Identifying, nurturing and retaining talent
Employee engagement: Cascading a culture which drives PE
Monetising ‘emotional ROI’ Session five
What does success look like? Identifying and implementing performance metrics
Cross cultural similarities and local specificity
Creating a regional benchmark-able model
2012
Efficiency and productivity Arab Health Issue 5 2011 33
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