5 Ways to Accelerate Your 2020 Experience Efforts

by Stacy Palmer, CPXP

I recently stumbled upon a list of New Year’s jokes. My favorite asked, ‘What’s the first thing you’ll say in 2021?’ The answer made me chuckle, ‘Hindsight is 20/20.’ I thought it was clever and kind of cute, but it also made me reflect on what I hope my hindsight on 2020 will be. And when we look back at this year, what do we hope 2020’s hindsight for patient experience will be?

In 2019, we saw great strides in the patient experience movement as we introduced the Experience Ecosystem highlighting the resources, associated organizations and solution providers supporting each of the eight strategic lenses of the Experience Framework. Also in 2019, our biennial State of Patient Experience benchmarking study revealed that patient experience efforts continue to mature and remain established within healthcare organizations. We saw a growing recognition that the types of organizations we build are foundational as people globally reinforced culture is vital in achieving positive experience efforts. Overall, 2019 marked a shift to patient experience not being something healthcare does but being who healthcare is.

When we look back at 2020, what will we have learned and accomplished? I believe that as a community we have built a foundation on which global experience efforts will continue to accelerate. As you plan for the new year, I offer some suggestions that may help accelerate your 2020 efforts as well:

1. Acknowledge your organization’s strengths and opportunities. If you have not yet participated in an Organizational Experience Assessment, I encourage you to do so. The process is grounded in the Experience Framework and built on global research identifying factors seen as critical to positive experience outcomes by both high performing healthcare units and consumers of healthcare. Your assessment will provide a comprehensive picture of the strengths and opportunities you have in your efforts to improve the patient experience. 
2. Enhance your team’s foundation in patient experience. When building a culture of patient experience excellence, it is essential to establish a foundation where all team members clearly understand what patient experience is, what it means to them and how they can positively impact experience excellence. Consider a program such as PX 101, a community-inspired resource for use in orientation programs and other staff education that shares patient experience knowledge on the front lines of care to positively impact experience outcomes.
3. Celebrate your team’s patient experience efforts. Rewarding and recognizing great work is also an important component of building a culture of experience excellence. And the new year is a great time to evaluate, enhance or reinvigorate your internal recognition programs. Also, start planning now for Patient Experience Week 2020, April 27 – May 1. Patient Experience Week is an annual event providing a focused time to celebrate accomplishments, create enthusiasm and honor the people who impact patient experience every day. 
4. Expand your personal patient experience network. One of the greatest benefits cited by members of The Beryl Institute is the power of the community – the ability to network, share and learn with others passionate about improving experience. Set aside designated time to follow and contribute to conversations on PX Connect where members share their experience challenges and successes. You will make new connections, learn from peers and help others by sharing your knowledge and expertise.
5. Commit to your continued learning and professional development. Make it a priority in 2020 to seek knowledge that will advance your skills and best prepare you to impact experience efforts in your organization. Take advantage of membership benefits such as webinars, topic calls and publications. For more extensive learning, consider the PX Body of Knowledge courses which offer certificate programs in Patient Experience Leadership and Patient Advocacy. Also consider joining the over 1,100 individuals who have achieved Certified Patient Experience Professional (CPXP) designation offered through our sister organization, Patient Experience Institute. CPXP Prep Course workshops are available through The Beryl Institute to help you prepare.

Our commitment at The Beryl Institute is to support and elevate your efforts by continuing to offer the most relevant research, resources and connections. As such, our greatest hope for 2020 is that you will discover all the ways that the Institute can help you tap into this valuable and helpful collection of leading resources to kick-start innovation and build excitement in the new year. You can start by exploring one or all of the five ways mentioned above to enhance your own professional path as a leader and to accelerate your patient experience efforts as an organization.

We have tremendous respect and gratitude for the work happening globally each day to elevate the human experience in healthcare, and we will continue to provide a place for you to share, learn and celebrate together this year and into the future.  When we get to 2021, we hope you will be proud of, and inspired by, the progress you accomplished this year. After all, hindsight will indeed be 20/20.

Stacy Palmer, CPXP
Senior Vice President & COO
The Beryl Institute