Dive Brief:
- Nearly half (43%) of surveyed hospital experience leaders involve front-line staff and physicians in selecting and implementing new technology solutions, according to Experience Innovation Network, part of Vocera Communications.
- Most (70%) of the 2017 survey respondents said they solicit improvement ideas from front-line team members, and 48% said they seek input on designing and disseminating experience parameters.
- The three main approaches to including patient and family voices were creating a patient-family advisory council (47%), requiring patient and family involvement in strategic decisions (18%) and having patient and family partners dedicated to every improvement project (15%).
Dive Insight:
As the healthcare industry transitions to value-based care, more organizations are adding CXOs to the C-suite. The goal is not just to improve overall experience, but to show how that ties to safety, quality and financial results.
In a recent survey by The Beryl Institute, 48% of U.S. hospitals and health systems reported having a CXO — up from 22% in 2013. And their standing in in the C-suite is increasing, with fully half reporting directly to the CEO, compared with 39% a year ago, according to Vocera.
“There’s a growing recognition that if you are going to deliver exceptional quality and safety, that needs to be coupled with empathy and respect,” Liz Boehm, research director for Experience Innovation Network, told Healthcare Dive recently. “Just giving someone great care, if it’s not followed with great communication and a connection that builds trust between the care team and the patient and family, then you haven’t done the whole job.”
More than half (55%) of the CXOs in Vocera’s survey said creating or improving their organization’s experience culture is their top priority, while 53% said improve patient experience scores. Improving staff and physician well-being and implementing best practices were close behind at 43% and 42%, respectively. The biggest challenge facing the CXOs is accountability, though sustaining changes and driving cultural change also drew strong response. CXOs also reported that experience often gets bumped for other priorities. In fact, one-third of surveyed experience leaders reported having no dedicated budget.