Modern Healthcare – August 12, 2019

30 Modern Healthcare | August 12, 2019

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Improving the patient

experience isn’t about the title

Th e patient experience movement

has never been about a title. As Rick

Evans said in the July 29 cover story

(“Use of CXO role fades as other

leaders take on responsibilities,”

p. 18), it is much more than a position.

It is a strategic imperative for

organizations that want to transform

healthcare. It is about creating

ideal healthcare experiences with

compassion, trust and respect, in

addition to providing high quality,

safe and effi cient care. While some

organizations think experience

initiatives can be split or managed by

other roles like a chief quality offi cer,

the focus is distinctly diff erent.

Th e question is, “What does it take

to commit to improving patient,

family and staff experience, and

sustain that commitment?” For some

hospitals, this mission is already

so embedded in the culture that a

dedicated chief experience offi cer

may not be necessary because

patient experience is owned by

each employee at every level of the

organization. Yet, these organizations

are rare. Th erefore, it is still necessary

for most hospitals to have a dedicated

leader with a laser focus. Even

though everyone owns quality, few

health systems, if any, would suggest

eliminating the chief quality role.

Th at said, the role of the CXO has

evolved. Having a dedicated leader

with a title that refl ects the mission

is needed. If responsibilities are

split, so is the focus. Whether we

call this person a chief experience

offi cer, a chief consumer offi cer or

something else, hospitals and health

systems need a leader whose primary

responsibility is ensuring an ideal

healthcare experience remains a

top strategic priority for all. If more

hospitals start eliminating dedicated

experience-improvement roles,

we will be wondering where the

humanity in healthcare went.

Dr. Bridget Duff y

Chief medical offi cer

Vo c era

Co-founder

Experience Innovation Network

Not so fast on dropping the

role of CXO at hospitals

Regarding the July 29 cover story,

“Shared experience: Use of CXO

role fades as other leaders take on

responsibilities,” before leaders of

hospitals and health systems make

the critical decision of redistributing

the responsibility for patient

experience to other team members

or forgoing the role altogether, one

needs to look at the evidence.

My dissertation, written while I

was recently pursuing my executive

doctoral degree at the University

of Alabama at Birmingham,

examined the association between

an established chief experience

offi cer position and hospital patient-

experience scores to determine

whether having an individual in

the formal role made a diff erence.

My study was conducted using

primary data collected on hospitals

and health systems in three states:

California, Florida and New

York. Using Hospital Consumer

Assessment of Healthcare Providers

and Systems survey data, I found

that hospitals with a formal CXO

role reported scores that statistically

were signifi cantly higher for both the

patient recommendation question

(No. 22) as well as the hospital

overall rating question (No. 21) when

compared to hospitals that either

did not have a CXO position or had a

shared position.

I presented these results at the

American College of Healthcare

Executives’ 2019 Annual Congress

and will soon be publishing an

article to further disseminate my

study’s fi ndings so leaders can apply

evidence-based empirical research in

their decisionmaking.

William Breen

Market president

Prime East

Memphis, Tenn.

HCAHPS response rates may

tarnish performance of CXOs

Th e July 29 cover story “Shared

experience: Use of CXO role fades as

other leaders take on responsibilities”

posits that if a positive return on

investment isn’t attached to a chief

experience offi cer’s involvement, a

healthcare leader may decide it no

longer makes sense to keep that CXO

on board.

Th e continuing national decline

of HCAHPS response rates

makes it harder for CXOs to show

positive results. Low response

rates mean only the most vocal

opinions are present, leading to

overrepresentation of negative

opinions factoring into HCAHPS

scores. Ten vocally livid patients may

not look terrible when sampling 1,000

people, but 10 people responding

negatively in a 100-person sample

paints a diff erent picture.

Th at diff erent picture becomes

more realistic in the face of dropping

response rates. Indeed, low

response rates produce inaccurate

representations of sampled patients,

and cause current measurements

of results to place CXOs at a

disadvantage to show positive ROI.

Joe Inguanzo, Ph.D.

President and CEO

PRC

Omaha, Neb.