How 8 health system leaders ensure patients feel heard

Our patients are regularly surveyed after a visit, and we have a dedicated patient experience team that reviews those surveys and identifies what is going well and where we have opportunities to improve. We also have a robust advisory council composed of nearly 8,000 patients and community members who regularly provide input and feedback on innovations, services and features we offer. Feedback from this council has informed everything from how we develop digital tools to reach patients to how we talk to patients who may be putting off much needed care. At Northwell Health, New York's largest health system, we have adopted a robust strategy for listening to the "voice" of our patients and incorporating their insights and feedback to improve care delivery. In 2021, Northwell surveyed 3.9 million encounters for patient experience, representing services across the continuum of care. Patients receive a letter from the facility's executive leader that explains how feedback is important, valued and used to elevate care. We employ numerous efforts while patients are in our care to elicit feedback for either validation of a positive experience and/or for service recovery opportunities. The feedback we receive becomes the core driving force behind our ongoing patient experience efforts. The goal of the patient experience effort at Billings Clinic is to ensure that everyone who walks through our doors feels informed, heard and cared for. This foundational work focuses on gathering feedback from our patients and families and bringing that back to our operational teams to keep improving. Billings Clinic has a dedicated patient experience team that focuses on consistent, frequent team member and patient/family rounding.