A Call to Action: Supporting and Sustaining a Commitment to Human Experience

by Jason A. Wolf, Ph.D, CPXP

In just three days, the global patient experience community at The Beryl Institute , will gather at Elevate PX (there is still time to join us) with a spirit of collaboration and shared learning, with a focus on what matters to those we care for in healthcare and all who show up to serve every day, with an intention that we will equitably care for the human beings in the communities we serve all around the world. We come together in our unwavering commitment to transform the human experience.

We do so at a time when it feels that just as we were healing from past crisis, there is a pulling at the seams of our humanity. For 15 years we have gathered as a community at this event. Over these years we faced moments we never expected to see clinically and operationally, but now we are faced with a moment I believe we must seize. One where the advocacy for our work, for a focus on experience, is being challenged again. One that I believe we have never been better prepared for.

Call me an eternal optimist, but I believe in the power of our community. I believe in our shared spirit and intention. I believe in our global connection and I believe, as I most recently shared, in our true north. The true north of human experience is not just a nice theory, it is a commitment to action. It is a call to action that we all now face.

Recent developments in our world have called on our sense of perseverance. In times of uncertainty, unknown, and even fear, our human tendencies are to separate, withdraw, and even shut off. But I do not believe that is who we are as a community. Our Declaration for Human Experience is grounded on the very opposite of that reaction. It calls on us to commit to “Collaborate through shared learning within and between organizations, systems, and the broader healthcare continuum to forge a bold new path to a more human-centered, equitable and effective healthcare system.) It is time we step forward to forge that path.

Part of that work is motivated by this moment, and now is the time to stand up in support of a commitment to experience. This week, the PX Policy Forum of The Beryl Institute raised a critical issue, that with reorganizations in the federal healthcare system taking place in the United States, the structure, people, and resources that have helped foster our very global conversation on the importance of an experience focus have been threatened. While specifically the actions here were focused on the unknown future of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), the implications reach much farther, as health systems are facing economic challenges compounded by unknown policy possibilities that have healthcare organizations not only in the US, but around the world, on edge.

And lost in all this are the voices of those we care for, the patients, families and care partners we serve. Lost in all this are the powerful accomplishments of so many of you and more around the world who through your commitment to experience have profoundly and positively impacted millions of lives. That impact is real, the evidence supports it, and the call to action from PXPF reminds us of it all. It states, “Improvements in care experiences are associated with better clinical outcomes, greater patient safety, enhanced provider and staff well-being, and reduced cost of care. These outcomes are at the heart of a positive human experience.”

The call to action makes two points unquestionably clear:

1. A commitment to patients, families, and care partners is foundational to all we do in healthcare
2. A commitment to experience leads to measurable and sustainable value

And it affirms that NOW is the time for us to elevate our voices. To advocate for WHY a commitment to experience is important. This is not just an issue on the radar due to happenings in the US this week, it is a call for all of us in our global community to stand up and share with our peers, our leaders, our legislators, our communities why the work we do matters. Why our commitment to experience has impact. That our purpose to transform healthcare is true.

My ask, if not urging, of you now is this: if in the US, the call to action provides a framework for advocacy to your legislators or encourages you to raise your voice in your posts, conversations, and communities. This is for you, be you a patient, a professional, or a passionate champion for experience. This is no different for our community members around the world. We together have achieved amazing things in our shared commitment to experience. We must be willing to use the tools we have, the voices we have been gifted, the opportunities in front of us to not only do the great work we do, but to be clear in sharing it has value, it has meaning, it has purpose, and it matters.

It matters to each of us as a family member and friend. It matters to those we care for every day. It matters in ensuring the kind of world that celebrates our humanity. It must forever be our true north. I hope you will elevate your own voice, be it through this call to action or other means. What we have and will continue to accomplish as a community is important…and we have much more work left to do.