Patient Experience
Delivering safe, high-quality, patient-centric care
James Merlino, MD
Chief Innovation Officer
April 11, 2025
Michigan State Quality Collaborative
-The ‘NEW’ Joint Commission
-Lessons people teach us
- What is important for people
- Thinking about patient Experience
-The ‘NEW’ Joint Commission
-Lessons people teach us
- What is important for people
- Thinking about patient Experience
© 2025 The Joint Commission. All Rights Reserved.
The Joint Commission
Driven by a desire to improve quality of care,
five major organizations came together in 1951
American College
of Surgeons
American College
of Physicians
American Medical
Association
American Dental
Association
American Hospital
Association
© 2025 The Joint Commission. All Rights Reserved.
4
© 2025 The Joint Commission. All Rights Reserved.
It’s our responsibility to drive value,
agility, burden reduction and
innovation with the organizations
we serve.”
Jonathan B. Perlin, MD, PhD
President and CEO, The Joint Commission
5
© 2025 The Joint Commission. All Rights Reserved.
Approach Tailored to Organizational Needs
Whether a single site of care or a complex system
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Improved Information
Sharing
Benchmarking
Continuous
Engagement
© 2025 The Joint Commission. All Rights Reserved.
For Payors
For Clinicians
For Provider Institutions
For Patients
Lower Medical Losses
Lower Measurement Burden
Access to Payer Performance
Incentives
Better outcomes
Value Chain Alignment
An Affiliation with the National Quality Forum
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-The ‘NEW’ Joint Commission
-Lessons people teach us
- What is important for people
- Thinking about patient Experience
People teach us things
AVOIDABLE SUFFERING
Healthcare
is hard
4.2 Million
440,000
3rd
-The ‘NEW’ Joint Commission
-Lessons people teach us
- What is important for people
- Thinking about patient Experience
Emotions
STRESSFUL
ANXIETY
FEAR – TERROR
UNCERTAINTY
CONFUSION
Desires
RESPECT
COMMUNICATION
HAPPY PEOPLE
EMPATHY
-The ‘NEW’ Joint Commission
-Lessons people teach us
- What is important for people
- Thinking about patient Experience
Competence, Coordination & Empathy
Concern for
Worries
Confidence in
Provider
Team works
Together
937,000 Ambulatory visits - 84.3% Recommend
98.1%
99.2%
99.4%
Empathy, Information & Delays
Informed
about delays
Staff cared
about you
Kept you
informed
1,200,000 ED visits – 65.0% Recommend
91.4%
94.5%
97.0%
• Nurse Communication
• Doctor Communication
• Medication Communication
HCAHPS Relevance
Safety
Quality
Experience
Experience drives safety & quality
• Experience is top Quartile…
–CLABSI, CAUTI, MRSA, C. Diff - lower
–PSI, 30-day readmission, LOS - lower
–Cost of care (MSPB) - lower
–Margin - higher
A Strategic Blueprint for Organizational Change
Press Ganey2018 Strategic Insights White Paper
Satisfaction
Patient Experience
Integrated
Perspective
Patient
Experience
•Safe Care
•High Quality Care
•Patient Satisfaction
•High-Value Care
Prioritizing our thinking
Must be for you – My patients love me
Academic boxing
• “Never sure who my doctor was…”
• Surgeon never saw me – until I was very critical”
• “Never saw my surgeon – only the fellow”
• “Doctor had attitude”
• “Doctor was rushed”
• “Too many doctors – I never new who was in charge”
• “….group was backing out of the door as my wife was
asking questions – very rude”
Is patient experience a strategic priority
Define it
Develop a narrative
Integrate the narrative into communication strategy
Form a cross functional team to lead it
Focus your data
Strategic talent management
Provider strategy
Focus tactics / fix broken things / new best practices
Initiative fatigue
No support of leaders or Board
Inconsistent messaging
Lack of buy in
Physicians not included
Poor execution / talent
Accountability
Derailers hold us hostage
Why should we care?
• It’s the right thing to do
• It’s defines who we are and what we do
• It’s how you would want us to treat you
• It’s what patient’s expect
• Safety, quality, and experience
