Personal Pep Talk from Bridget Duffy, MD ~ CXO Cleveland Clinic

I had the distinct pleasure to receive a personal pep talk from Bridget Duffy, MD today. Dr. Duffy is the CXO (Chief Experience Officer) of Cleveland Clinic. The CXO position is "charged with raising the institution’s commitment to ensuring a high-quality patient and family experience and humanizing the delivery of health care".

Cleveland Clinic is ranked the #1 Heart Hospital and in general the 4th top hospital in the country according to US News & World Report's America's Best Hospitals Report. A former business associate had met her at a conference and suggested that I contact her. You can imagine how thrilled I was that she agreed to talk with me.

She was incredibly warm and caring with me as well as an incredible inspiration. She told me that she began her journey to design "optimal healing environments" fifteen years ago. She remarked about the fact that she was fortunate that Cleveland Clinic has an enlightened board & CEO that is open to implementing her recommendations to improve patient experiences.

At this point, we all know that treating the patient and not the problem is better but there are not enough reports out there to prove it on paper. Hospital administration has to trust that it is the right thing to do. It makes me so happy that Cleveland Clinic chose to make make patient experience one of their system's eight strategic goals. The initiative, which is called "Patients First,” focuses on "addressing patients’ physical and emotional experience, restoring empathy as a core value and recognizing the role employees play in delivering an exceptional patient experience." I hope that if the word gets out and they can prove that it has a positive affect on their patients and on their ROI, then other hospitals will follow.

Dr. Duffy told me that doctors at Cleveland Clinic can check a box that says "Healing Services Consult" and the Healing Services Team follows up with the patient. Their healing services include many of the same things that Striving for More includes in our mission (psychologists, social workers, etc but they also include Holistic Nursing which she recommend that we consider in our scope as well. I did not even know that this specialty existed! I read more about what they do at the American Holistic Nurses Association website and wow, it is something that I would like to take to the S4M board for them to consider in our strategy. It fits right in!

Dr. Duffy encouraged me in my pursuit and gave me several specific strategic recommendations to consider as Striving for More moves forward in our mission.

Thank you Dr. Duffy and thank you Matt M. for suggesting that I talk with her.

Read more about the incredible work that is being done by Dr. Duffy and her staff at Cleveland Clinic in an article at hospitalconnect.com