Improving patient experience is an issue on every hospital leader’s mind, and that process should extend to hospital boards as well, according to Virginia Mason Health System CEO Gary S. Kaplan, M.D.
At Virginia Mason, Kaplan writes at the New England Journal of Medicine, the board took an active role in helping develop the care delivery process. When system leaders told the board their customer was the patient, the board next had them review care delivery processes to ensure they reflected that. During that review process, leaders found that in many cases, their processes were tailored far more to physicians and nurses instead.
In the wake of this realization, Kaplan writes, Virginia Mason reorganized its care model into a pyramid with the patient at the top. This included eliminating clinic waiting rooms, so the process instead begins with showing patients to exam rooms. The board has also implemented a policy in which a patient or family member attend and present at each meeting, with a particular eye toward negative experiences for the leaders to learn from.
Involving patients and their families in the process also is vital to transparency and patient safety, Kaplan wrote in a report for the National Patient Safety Foundation’s Lucian Leape Institute last year.
The board has strengthened Virginia Mason’s efforts in other ways as well, such as sending delegates along during patient rounding. This not only keeps board members informed on the day-to-day of the system, it sends patients the message that they are the priority, according to Kaplan. “I urge all hospital and health system executives, physician leaders, and board members to ensure that the board of directors plays a role in ensuring the best patient experience possible,” Kaplan writes. “This is what true leadership in healthcare is all about.”
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