Recently named to the No. 2 position on Newsweek's "2023 Best Hospitals" list, Cleveland Clinic leaders know full well that their efforts to constantly improve patient experience are always under a microscope.

While timely access to care is important when it comes to outcomes and patient satisfaction, findings from an April national survey released July 11 by the American Association of Nurse Practitioners show 40 percent of 1,029 respondents said they have experienced "longer than reasonable" wait times in hospitals and other healthcare facilities. This percentage increased over 2022 survey findings.

Hospital food has been the butt of jokes forever — at a significant cost to healthcare systems. Long after patients are discharged, they remember their poor experiences three meals a day, often just in time for the Press Ganey survey to arrive in their mailbox.

Although widely used in many other industries, online chat is just beginning to take off in healthcare. In fact, as healthcare leaders increasingly prioritize patient access, chat’s success in other businesses has spurred the rapid onboarding of chat solutions to help address healthcare-specific engagement and accessibility challenges.

All hospitals are focused on improving patient experience, a priority that has been proven to not only affect HCAHPS scores, Press Ganey survey ratings and CMS reimbursement policies, but also leads to improved quality and outcomes.

As a recently retired system chief nursing and quality officer, I am deeply passionate about championing nursing professionals as the backbone of healthcare delivery. Unfortunately, there is a pervasive threat that directly jeopardizes nurses’ ability to provide the highest quality care possible: workplace violence. With 44% of RNs reporting physical assault and 68% reporting verbal abuse according to the AHA, this mounting crisis must be addressed quickly and completely for the sake of caregiver wellbeing and organizational success at large.

At the close of 2021, I wrote that we were in a patient experience crisis. With the pandemic grinding on and omicron surges hitting most of us, the outlook was grim. My colleagues and I had never seen patient experience metrics drop so rapidly, and this development was a critical concern for the operations leadership and boards of many health systems. At the end of 2022, I wrote that, although some improvement had been seen, national indicators were still trending flat to negative. 

Novo Nordisk's popular Type 2 diabetes drug Ozempic has noted numerous odd results, from faces deflating to bizarre dreams, and its patients are seeing another strange side effect: less "food noise."

With an eye on constant innovation — especially when it comes to patient experience and satisfaction — Cleveland Clinic is growing its Healthcare Partners program by continuing to invite former patients and members of their families to advise on new hospital initiatives.

Long-term obstacles negatively impacting performance loom large for most healthcare groups and providers. Organizations in the marketplace consistently struggle with how to address one or more of the following:

When it comes to HCAHPS survey scores, the Veterans Health Administration beat out its private healthcare counterparts across the country in all 10 patient satisfaction categories, according to a nationwide Medicare survey released June 14. The report is based on discharge data collected between July 2021 and June 2022.

Almost by definition, the concept of medical gaslighting might be easy for some clinicians to brush off, but physicians have joined the conversation — #medicalgaslighting — on TikTok to raise awareness that dismissing a patient's healthcare concerns is not only short-sighted, but it's bad medicine.

Patients are turning to social media and using the hashtag #medicalgaslighting to express their discontent over lackluster healthcare interactions that leave them feeling unheard, Fox News reported June 1. 

Hospitals across the country have launched new initiatives to boost their patient experience ratings, The Wall Street Journal reported May 28.

No-shows not only lead to the loss of anticipated revenue, they pose risk to the quality of healthcare service and patient outcomes. Patients who fail to show up for their appointments often require more expensive care later.

Healthcare organizations are realizing the benefits of digitizing the payments experience.

Hartford, Conn.-based Jefferson Radiology announced May 16 that its new technology has cut traditional MRI exam times in half. 

They don't teach empathy in medical school. A physician's bedside manner evolves through experience and is inspired by one's personal ability — and desire — to read a patient's emotional cues. Some have a knack for it; others focus on the medicine without an interest in connecting on a personal level with patients. 

The University of Maryland Medical System in Baltimore offers wide-tooth combs, hair bonnets and honey hemp conditioner in an effort to better serve all patients, The Washington Post reported May 7.

Essentia Health is leaning into technology to enhance the patient experience at the upgraded St. Mary's Medical Center in Duluth, Minn.