It was 2004 and early in the career of James Merlino, MD, when his father died suddenly while hospitalized.
“It was the first time I was on the other side of health care,” Dr. Merlino told the audience during Sunday’s Opening Lecture. “My father’s stay in the hospital was terrible. It gave me a different perspective on what it means to be a patient. I knew I wanted to do something different.”
Merlino
The experience shaped the rest of Dr. Merlino’s career and ultimately led to writing his book Service Fanatics, How to Build Superior Patient Experience the Cleveland Clinic Way.
“We shouldn’t all have to experience what I did to understand we’re all in this together,” said Dr. Merlino, chief clinical transformation officer at the Cleveland Clinic. “It’s the health care provider’s responsibility to the patient experience to consistently ask every day ‘what else can we do?’”
In addition to working as a colorectal surgeon and leading patient-centric efforts at the Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Merlino also served as president, chief medical officer and chief transformation officer at the consulting firm Press Ganey. Over 30 years in the field have taught him what patients most want from their health care providers: respect, communication and empathy.
“Patients are looking to us to understand what they’re going through, they want us to be consistent and to communicate with our colleagues,” he said.
At the Cleveland Clinic, the patient experience is not only a strategic priority, it is embedded into the organization’s culture and everyday processes.
“Our goal at the Cleveland Clinic is to deliver safe, high-quality, patient-centered care in an environment where people feel cared for as an individual,” he said. “It’s not about happiness or satisfaction.”
Training is Key to Changing Culture
To improve the patient experience, Dr. Merlino offered a number of suggestions, from developing and communicating a narrative to sharing important data with providers and providing the tools they need, including communication training.
“When we focus on our people and make sure that they have what they need, they are more engaged and do better for patients,” Dr. Merlino said.
Getting universal buy-in from the entire health care team and improving communication between physicians and nurses is also imperative. Most importantly, the patient experience must be integrated into every process, from onboarding and training to annual reviews that hold providers accountable.
“You can’t let patient experience be off in the corner with a group of people who are really passionate about it,” Dr. Merlino said. “Every leader in the organization has to be responsible for driving the work and everyone must be involved.”
Going forward, he suggested that health care providers continue to work as they have during the pandemic — being constantly vigilant and thinking about what our patients are going through.
“When you think about all of the work we’ve accomplished in the past 20 months, it’s simply remarkable,” Dr. Merlino said. “It has shown us that at its core, healthcare and its caregivers are highly resilient. Coming together as teams is what made us successful.”
Access the Opening Lecture, “Service Fanatics — How to Deliver Safe, High-Quality, Patient-Centric Care,” (S5-PLO1) on demand at Meeting.RSNA.org.
