Consumerism trends are rising to the forefront in healthcare, and system CEOs are making big investments to meet patient expectations.
Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic's primary value is patients come first and the entire leadership team continually monitors and implements new ways to improve the patient experience, leveraging technology to connect people and data insights for a more seamless, personalized care plan. Over the last several years, Mayo has incorporated ambient intelligence and personalized displays within the physical locations.
"We are also investing in our physical structures alongside our digital investments to create intuitive experiences within 'neighborhoods' where labs, imaging and treatments are built around the anticipated needs of our patients," said Richard J. Gray, MD, CEO of Mayo Clinic Arizona and vice president of Mayo Clinic. "This patient-centered approach extends beyond our campuses through programs like Mayo Clinic Care Hotel, Advanced Care at Home and Cancer Care Beyond Walls, in which we provide hospital-quality care to patients in the comfort of a home environment using advanced technology to monitor and communicate with them."
Damond W. Boatwright, president and CEO of Hospital Sisters Health System in Springfield, Ill., is also investing in technology to improve patient satisfaction and the digital experience platforms across the continuum of care. He is zeroing in on how patients interact with HSHS from the moment they begin searching for services to receiving care and billing process.
"We want to create an exceptional care experience for everyone who entrusts us with their health, and that means every encounter with HSHS must be positive," he said. "We have seen significant operational improvements in key departments, such as ensuring our ED patients are seen quickly, and, if necessary, admitted on a timely basis."
The ED has also been a target for Craig Kent, MD, CEO of UVA Health and executive vice president of health affairs at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. The health system recently transformed the ED using a quality improvement model to rework patient flow.
"This has had a profound impact on reducing crowding in our waiting room, shortening overall wait times and enhancing patient safety and satisfaction, all while accommodating steady increases in patient volume," said Dr. Kent.
UVA Health had opened a new 80-bed emergency department at the flagship academic medical center in 2019, but it wasn't fully optimized throughout the pandemic. It also wasn't equipped for the patient surge over the last four years. Dr. Kent saw the need for a complete patient flow restructure.
"We have adopted an acuity and specialty-based model, with a triage physician at intake to expedite care and accelerate testing," said Dr. Kent. "Patients are triaged by acuity. We introduced real-time patient flow leaders to preempt and resolve slowdowns. We have also implemented vertical care by replacing hospital beds with chairs for our low and middle acuity patients who visit emergency departments at all of our hospitals."
UVA Health also created an admission holding unit as well to free space in the acute care areas for new patients at all hospitals. All emergency metrics improved after the transformation, and ED volumes have been up 18% above budget in the last year.
Chandra Chacon, president and CEO of Children's Nebraska in Omaha, is taking a different approach.
"We are investing in our people. Our people want to deliver exceptional patient and family experiences, so we boost our success if we empower and enable them to do that.
We are listening to our patients and families to define what an exceptional experience looks like. We are then aligning our teams and hyper-focusing our efforts on what matters to the people we serve," she said.
Children's Nebraska is engaging providers through recognition, development and collaborative opportunities to lead care teams and develop the right experience for patients and families.