The value of patient experience
The opening session's second speaker was Dr. James Merlino, a colon-rectal surgeon by training. He has also worked extensively in creating many of the patient experience strategies commonly used in hospitals and health systems today. He rejoined Cleveland Clinic in 2019 after five years heading the patient experience consulting division at Press Ganey. At CC, he serves as chief clinical transformation officer to link patient experience measurements with better outcomes.

Merlino made a compelling case linking top quartile hospitals in the CMS HCAHPS survey with fewer complications, lower length of stay, lower Medicare spend per patient, fewer 30-day readmissions, and higher margins. He recounted how in 2004, his father, who was in the hospital for an ambulatory biopsy procedure for one night, had gone into cardiac arrest and died. Before his father's death, several minor incidents suggested that his patient experience wasn't good leading up to his death. The omission and mistakes strongly indicated that there was a lack of coordinated communication and care.
"Ultimately, it gave me a different perspective on what it means to be a patient and how we needed to do something different," said Merlino. "I was very early in my career … it led me to the field of patient experience.”

This interest culminated in his book Service Fanatics – How to Build Superior Patient Experience the Cleveland Clinic Way. Echoing Mahoney’s sentiment, he shared that what all clinicians do is not just for patients but also their own families and themselves. Empathetic understanding is the key, according to Merlino.

“Patients want us to know them because we’ll care for them better,” he said.

And it's not just with the patient; it's with all the members of the care team, from physicians to nurses to therapists. They want their doctors to understand what it's like to be a patient. This is especially true when health systems experience significant stress, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic, said Merlino, taught caregivers that failure is not an option, that healthcare is highly reliable, and that teamwork (including a focus on staff) equals success. These are all findings that support empathetic patient care.

He noted a recent study that found there are nearly five million medical errors committed a year in U.S. hospitals, resulting in 440,000 deaths, making medical errors the third leading cause of death. The tenants of empathetic, mindful, continuous-learning patient care can eliminate preventable medical mistakes.

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