The future success of providers hinges on an understanding that societal health is more than just about population health and that ACO players are not just hospitals, physicians and long-term care entities. Rather, employers, banks, supermarkets–in short, the community–all play a role when it comes to understanding dementia, including Alzheimer’s. Caring for family caregivers in […]
Few health researchers have the chance to survey hundreds of thousands of American consumers on health topics but we did just that as leaders of the research teams that led, designed, fielded and reported patient experience data at Consumer Reports from 2008 to 2013. From ADHD to weight loss, from back pain to laser […]
So, what do you do when you realize care is not as efficient and easy as it could be for a person seeking your help with a medical problem? You consider process redesign. That is exactly as it was for some of our patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). There did not seem to […]
Editor’s Note: In this week’s post, Lisa Sams discusses the evolution of patient expectations and engagement and poses questions about using lessons learned to accelerate change. We encourage your feedback and responses to these questions. Please feel free to share in the comments section following the post. “Our Patients Expected, Better . . .” He […]
Consider this: A 2011 survey reported in Health Affairs of 800 recently hospitalized patients found that only 53 percent of them felt that their physicians were empathic and caring.1 In one study where doctor-patient encounters were videotaped, researchers found that doctors often overlooked or dismissed signs of distress communicated by patients, providing empathic responses only […]
Editor’s Note: The deadline for 2016 nominations for the John Q. Sherman Award for Excellence in Patient Engagement is just around the corner: Friday, March 11.Want to know what it takes to “Wow” our judges? In this week’s post, we take a look back at 2015 finalist Virginia Mason Medical Center. At the end of […]
Those of us who live mostly on the “inside” of healthcare sometimes need to go outside to realize what the patient experience is really like — and how it might be improved. I have long preached that healthcare insiders should not be the chief architects of the healthcare experience. It must come from the patient’s […]
I’d like to start with a basic premise to consider in healthcare (and relevant to life in general, for that matter); that we have a series of experiences, driven by encounters with people or now even technology. These experiences are not just passing moments, but as defined, experiences are all that is perceived, understood and […]
When it comes to engaging with consumers – with patients – through and with technology, the healthcare industry has room for improvement as compared to other industries. Consumers interact with technology across most other aspects of their lives every single day, from banking, to buying almost any consumer good imaginable, to watching or listening to […]
Virginia Mason is an urban integrated health system in the Puget Sound, Washington region, with our flagship campus located in downtown Seattle. Like most healthcare organizations, we strive to actively engage patients in their clinical care. As part of our patient engagement efforts, our patients and their families are directly involved in helping improve our […]