An exceptional patient experience extends beyond providing excellent clinical care. It encompasses every aspect of a patient’s journey, at each step during their time with Penn Medicine.
We already have many initiatives in place to better serve our patients, from programs run by our standout staff to those that leverage the latest tech tools. For example, our Red Coat Ambassadors offer a friendly face to patients and visitors who enter our facilities and help guide their way, and our myPennMedicine patient portal provides easy access to records, test results, and appointment scheduling.
Now, with our health system’s continued growth – and a workforce of nearly 40,000 – we have taken our efforts to the next level, establishing a set of standardized, guiding principles to ensure that every employee, in any role, can deliver on every patient experience across Penn Medicine.
The Penn Medicine Experience Standards are a reflection of what staff from throughout our system – as well as members of our Patient and Family Advisory Councils – told us are most important aspects of delivering a stellar patient experience. These standards are a unified pledge to “Be Compassionate, Be Present, Be Empowered, Be Collaborative, and Be Accountable.” Together, they define our unique practice of making our patients, families – and each other – feel cared for. It’s important to note that the Penn Medicine Experience includes the way we treat one another, as a community that works together for a shared mission. Indeed, according to HealthStream, a leading provider of workforce development and research solutions, the patient experience is measurably improved when the employee culture is improved.
Our goal in creating the Penn Medicine Experience is to ensure that patients have the same experience no matter where they receive their care – during a visit to a Penn primary care provider, for instance, at one of our six hospitals, or at home. From clinicians to patient service associates, we are consistently using the standards as a guide to work collaboratively with each other and across the continuum of care.
Sharing stories and celebrating exemplary behavior will help this initiative take root in the organization as we learn from one another. When it comes to being “Accountable,” Chester County Hospital is leading by example. They embarked on a major construction project last April, which redirected all visitors to a new entrance. All employees were empowered and accountable to guide and direct patients and families during what could have been a confusing transition.
A new poster and social media campaign is helping spread the word about our new Penn Medicine Experience Standards. The posters feature stories from all of our entities, highlighting staff in diverse roles who are demonstrating exemplary behaviors related to the standards. For example, staff will “meet” a clinical coordinator in a cardiology practice whose “engaging, warm and welcoming demeanor brings light and encouragement to patients and colleagues she encounters.”
Though we’re codifying these standards in a fresh way, our efforts to match our service excellence with our clinical excellence are longstanding, and already paying off. Over the past three years, inpatient scores on the “Rate This Hospital” category of our Press Ganey survey scores – which query patients about all aspects of their experience – have increased 17 percentile points. And, on the outpatient side, “Likelihood to Recommend the Practice” has increased 60 percentile points!
I encourage you to share your stories and join me in upholding these experience standards in your daily interactions. Our patients and employees expect and deserve a world-class organization, and we’re proud to provide it to them in every domain of our work. That is the Penn Medicine Experience.