Christopher Addis, MD, FACP, MBA, Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health Physicians Hospitalists, Chair, Department of Medicine
During the winter of 2020, Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health launched a pilot program at Lancaster General Hospital (LGH) called “Commit to Sit.. The premise is pretty simple – sitting down while talking to patients leads to a richer conversation, while also building trust.
Before the launch of Commit to Sit, sitting with patients was common and easily accessible at LG Health physician practices and outpatient centers, but there were obstacles for physicians and other members of the care team at LGH – such as size and layout of the room and a lack of places to sit.
Commit to Sit began as a pilot program on the 8 Lime and 8 North units of LGH, and rolling stools were placed at the bedside for the care team to use when talking with patients. The program has now extended to two additional units within LGH, 8 Frederick and 7 Lime, with the hopes of adding 7 Frederick in the near future.
“Patient surveys are showing positive results of the program,” said Christopher Addis, MD, FACP, MBA, Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health Physicians Hospitalists; chair, Department of Medicine; and champion of the Commit to Sit program. “This includes an improvement in our physician communication scores, which most recently stand at 83.91% positive, up from 80.95%. And a multitude of anecdotal feedback from clinicians, staff and patients has been overwhelmingly positive.”
LGH nurses involved in the pilot program shared that while the content of their conversations with patients has not changed, patients seem more relaxed, attentive and willing to ask questions when they are sitting at eye level.
The positive feedback from patients and staff alike demonstrates a direct correlation to the health system’s annual strategic goal related to patient experience, which aspires to “deliver an extraordinary experience for every person and family in our care.”
“Moving forward, my hope is that Commit to Sit will be in place throughout the hospital and a seated conversation will be part of the standard inpatient experience,” said Addis. “While the idea of a seated conversation may still be relatively new for many of us, I hope this will lead to stronger connections with our patients, which may also help to fight clinician burnout.”