By Rohit Uppal, MD, MBA, Chief Clinical Officer, Hospitalist Services
Patient Experience Week provides an opportunity to celebrate and honor our TeamHealth clinicians for the important work they do every day, especially now.
Thank you to our TeamHealth clinicians for your courage and selflessness in leading our fight against COVID-19. I am so incredibly grateful for your commitment to our patients and communities, as well as your dedication and leadership during this national health crisis.
Extended periods of change and uncertainty can cause anxiety and fear. This pandemic has caused many to look to health systems, healthcare leaders and clinicians for support and reassurance. During times like this, meeting the needs of patients and families with empathy and transparency is essential. That is the core of the patient experience.
At TeamHealth we focus on providing positive patient experiences. When we do, we meet many of our other strategic priorities.
- Delivering best-in-class clinical quality care and patient safety. While great quality of care and positive outcomes are paramount, patient experience drives those results. How we communicate, and the experience we create for our patients, plays an integral role in keeping our patients safe and providing them with the best possible clinical outcomes. Our team members know effective communication makes them better clinicians. They understand that earning the patient’s trust is an essential skill that leads to improved patient outcomes,
- Clinician engagement. The ability to communicate effectively translates into essential skills for professional growth and development that allow clinicians to grow personally, professionally and as leaders in their hospitals and their communities. As clinicians improve their communication skills, their job satisfaction improves, their resilience increases, and the risk of burnout diminishes.
- Supporting the success of our hospital partners. Our expertise in patient experience directly affects value-based purchasing (VBP) performance, which significantly impacts our hospital partners’ bottom line. We also have found that patient experience allows hospitals to stand out in a competitive market, to improve patient loyalty and to expand market share. Our skills in communication ensure that we contribute to a culture of high reliability and safety within the hospital.
TeamHealth’s emphasis on leadership and culture ensures that our teams are patient-centered and service-oriented. All of our teams are led by a local facility medical director (FMD) and a regional medical director (RMD). Our FMDs and RMDs undergo formal leadership training where they are coached and mentored on how to create the right culture, how to use data to manage performance, and how to support and encourage performers who can improve. Placing skilled and highly trained physician leaders in our programs drives our consistent performance on patient experience.
In closing, Patient Experience Week gives me an opportunity to communicate with our clinicians how much I appreciate your hard work and dedication. I hope you can find a moment this week to celebrate your accomplishments and remind yourself of your purpose as an individual and our purpose as a team. To our hospital partners, it is an honor to work in partnership with you and your teams.
It is my privilege to support each of you as you lead us, both in your day-to-day work and through this global pandemic.