First Among the Best

Excellence in patient experience is something we practice every day. And it’s nice to see our efforts recognized by the patients and families we serve.

Our Guardian of Excellence Award®, based on patient surveys, confirms that we put patients first in all aspects of their care. We score in the top 1% of all hospitals and healthcare practices for this important measure – or as Press Ganey told us:

“This means that 99% of the All Facilities, AHA Region 6 and State of Iowa facilities have scores lower than yours.”

Higher than Leading Healthcare Organizations

Who’s in the 99% below us? On the national level, it’s major players, such as Cleveland Clinic, Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Rush University Medical Center and Stanford Hospitals and Clinics.

On the regional level, we rank above St. Louis University, Sanford Clinics and University of Nebraska Medical Center Physicians. And right here at home, we top Mercy Medical Center, a number of Unity Point Clinics and UI Community Medical Services.

Excellent Patient Experience Means High-Quality Care

Patient experience is not just a “soft” skill – it’s directly related to quality of care. When Cleveland Clinic wanted to improve their patient satisfaction scores, they discovered that their patients’ number one concern was respect. They indicate:

“Respect is important to patients because they want providers to treat them like individuals and engage with them personally. This goes against everything providers have learned, though, because we’re taught to be objective and unemotional. For patients, however, this personal connection is important because patients tend to feel that when providers connect with them on a personal level, those providers will make fewer mistakes.”

The New England Journal of Medicine supports the relationship between patient experience and quality of care in an article called “The Patient Experience and Health Outcomes,” which says:

“We believe that both theory and the available evidence suggest that (patient experience) measures are robust, distinctive indicators of health care quality.”

What does this mean for you? High rankings like ours translate into respectful, compassionate care AND safe, effective treatment.

Patient Experience is in our DNA

Many organizations expend considerable effort to improve patient experience. Cleveland Clinic is a great example of this. They were the first major academic medical center to appoint a Chief Experience Officer. The first person in that role went on to found the Association for Patient Experience, which hosts an annual Empathy & Innovation Summit. (It’s billed as the world’s largest, independent conference devoted to improving the patient experience, with sessions such as “Theory of Human Caring.”)

Here at The Ghosh Center, we have great respect for Cleveland Clinic and appreciate that large organizations have to work hard to achieve patient experience goals. But, we’re also glad to be a small, independent practice that finds it natural to put patients and their families first every day.

*Pictured above: Laurie Plante, Mindy Martin and Dr. Ghosh with Ryan Patrick, CEO of Press Ganey