Linguistic Support to Improve the Patient Experience

In 2017, Geisinger Holy Spirit’s Associate Chief Medical Officer (ACMO) Dr. Shubhra Kumar-Bradley identified an opportunity to improve the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) scores, specifically in the question; “How often did doctors explain things in a way you could understand” within the Doctor Communication domain. This question is one way to measure the effectiveness of communication physicians have with their respective patients. Ranking in the first percentile for this question, Dr. Kumar-Bradley established a focus group of hospitalists employed by Geisinger Holy Spirit, to begin to identify a solution to the communication barriers with the patients.