Marshfield Clinic Health System

Erica Steed

Erica Steed serves as the Director of Patient Experience at Wellstar Health System, where she oversees comprehensive training and planning initiatives for physicians, nursing staff and ancillary personnel. Her role encompasses a multifaceted approach, including education on patient experience tactics such as bedside shift reports, hourly rounding and anxiety-reducing aids. She also spearheads a reward and recognition program, ensuring that staff feel appreciated by both colleagues and patients. Additionally, Steed conducts observations to assess adherence to best practices and patient feedback, particularly in handling grievances and complaints.

Through this article, Erica shares her insights on the importance of advocating for patient-centric care, embracing technological advancements and ways to address gaps in healthcare systems to enhance patient experience.

What do you see as the key challenges currently affecting patient experience in healthcare?

From my perspective, one of the main challenges we face in healthcare is our cautious approach toward embracing technology. It’s complex, I know, but I truly believe we could benefit from being more adventurous in incorporating technology and adopting best practices from other sectors. My hope is that we can start leveraging tools like artificial intelligence not as shackles tying us to computers or laptops, but as aids to better understand our patients. Imagine if our systems could anticipate the needs of returning patients, allowing us to tailor their visits based on what's most important to them. So, leveraging technology more effectively is a big wish of mine for healthcare as a whole.

Another aspect I’d like to highlight is patient education. I wish patients, myself included, would invest more in understanding their rights, responsibilities and roles within the healthcare system. Just as we educate ourselves about credit scores or buying a house, we should also be informed about end-of-life care and the importance of advanced directives. Too often, critical conversations about death and dying are postponed until it’s too late, leading to unnecessary complications involving ethics departments, spiritual care and care coordination. It would be transformative if we could address our fears about death openly and discuss our preferences in healthier times, easing the burden on both families and healthcare providers during critical moments.

Are there any recent trends in the industry aimed at addressing these challenges, perhaps through technology or changes in processes?

I think it's crucial to maintain the human touch in healthcare—it's irreplaceable. Collaboration is key, breaking down silos between departments is essential. Patient experience often intersects with various other areas, and tapping into those resources can be invaluable. While I don’t believe patient experience initiatives always reach out to these other departments enough, there are organizations and initiatives aiming to bridge these gaps. For instance, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and similar organizations facilitate proactive conversations about end-of-life care, promoting meaningful dialogues around difficult topics like death and dying.

“While it’s true that there's nothing entirely new under the sun, I eagerly anticipate the day when we can return to a state where patients are comfortably monitored from their own homes, surrounded by their loved ones.”

I see it as a process of starting conversations and acknowledging the challenges we face. You might call them pain points; I think of them as pebbles in our shoes—we’re walking through them right now, but eventually, we’ll take off our shoes, shake out the pebbles, and find comprehensive solutions. It’s important to recognize that we can’t tackle everything at once; we risk burning out our staff and overloading our systems. However, by starting these conversations and acknowledging the need for change, we're taking the first steps toward meaningful progress. It’s about realizing that we have to start somewhere, and these conversations are a solid starting point.

Can you share a recent project or initiative where you've incorporated these trends to address challenges in patient care?

One of the key initiatives we’ve been working on involves close collaboration with our patient advisors. We identified some gaps in our processes and enlisted community members, whom we call patient advisors, to conduct what we term ‘multi-sensory audits’ within our organization. These audits involve observing, listening and noting any aspects of patient care that could be improved.

Through this initiative, we’ve identified areas where staff responsiveness could be enhanced, particularly in preventing falls and improving communication. Given the shortage of nurses and patient care techs, our patient advisors helped us develop simulation training to address these issues. This training focuses on being fully present in the moment, engaging in effective communication techniques such as teach-backs, and involving family members in discussions even when they're not physically present.

We have also implemented an algorithm to streamline communication with family members, especially for patients who may not have the capacity to convey information themselves. Depending on the nature of the update—whether it’s about diagnosis, prognosis or discharge plans—the appropriate healthcare provider calls the designated family member. This approach has improved continuity of care, reduced redundancy in communication and increased patient and family satisfaction.

We’re actively tracking the impact of these initiatives through feedback mechanisms and spotlight reports, which gauge communication effectiveness and staff confidence levels. It’s been a comprehensive approach to improving patient experience and enhancing overall care delivery.

What disruptions and transformations do you anticipate in the future of patient experience, and how do you envision it evolving in the coming years?

There is much potential for change. While telemedicine has made great strides, I’m eagerly awaiting the day when patients can be back in their own homes, receiving remote monitoring while surrounded by their loved ones. That shift alone will usher in a new era of patient experience.

Patient experience has already evolved significantly, shifting from a focus solely on the physician's perspective to truly prioritizing the needs and comfort of patients. But I think we're on the brink of another transformation. We're realizing that patient care extends beyond the individual—they're embedded within a network of loved ones who also need support, especially during critical moments like receiving a serious prognosis.

In the future, I envision a more holistic approach to patient care—one that includes mental health support not just for the patient, but also for their caregivers. Personally, I've seen the value of tapping into resources like our local spiritual health department to support caregivers, because if they're not in a good mental space, it can impact their ability to provide effective care at home.

So, moving forward, I believe patient experience will become more of a bundled care approach, encompassing not only the patient's physical needs but also their mental and spiritual well-being, as well as the well-being of those who care for them. It’s about recognizing and addressing the interconnectedness of health and support systems to ensure comprehensive care for everyone involved.

While it’s true that there's nothing entirely new under the sun, I eagerly anticipate the day when we can return to a state where patients are comfortably monitored from their own homes, surrounded by their loved ones. I believe this transition will mark another significant evolution in patient experience. There is a shift in focus from physician-centered care to patient-centered care, which I find incredibly rewarding. However, I believe we need to take it a step further. We’ve recognized that we're not just caring for the patient, but also for their loved ones who may be experiencing emotional distress upon receiving a critical prognosis. That’s why I advocate for implementing mechanisms for mental health support for these caregivers.

What advice or suggestions would you offer to your peers or upcoming professionals?

Don't feel pressured to tackle everything at once. It's easy to get overwhelmed and try to solve every problem under the sun, but sometimes, that's like trying to boil the ocean—it's just not feasible. If something didn’t work before, it’s okay to take a step back and reassess. What didn’t work in the past might be the perfect solution for the present. So, don’t be afraid to revisit ideas and approaches, because timing is everything, and what didn’t work yesterday might be exactly what's needed today.