Understanding the Relational Patient Experience in Ambulatory Care through Patient Journey Mapping

Carol Majewski, RN, MS, MHCDS, Director, Office of Patient Experience, Dartmouth-Hitchcock
Jason C. Vallee, PhD, Director, Achieving Excellence, Dartmouth-Hitchcock; Assistant Professor, Community & Family Medicine, Geisel Medical School, Dartmouth College
Jodi Stewart, Communications Manager, Achieving Excellence, Dartmouth-Hitchcock

How are you supporting or eroding the relationships you build with your patients? Are you defining the patient experience in a way to truly understand your patients’ needs? Hear about Dartmouth-Hitchcock’s journey to excellence and more specifically, learn the process they used to relate the patient experience through the use of patient journey mapping in the primary care setting. As one of many tools, a journey map tells the story from the patients’ perspective resulting in a visual representation to encourage employees from across their organization to understand the totality of the patients’ experience and focus on the patients’ needs. 

Learning objectives:

• Distinguish the key differences between transactional patient experiences (processes) and relational patient experiences (relationships)
• Understand the fundamental differences between patient needs and expectations in order to focus improvement efforts in the most meaningful way
• Develop, create, and graphically portray the relational patient experience for ambulatory care patients through patient journey mapping
• Align individual and departmental goal-setting to the relational patient experience to create accountability and an environment where patients can become co-creators of their wellbeing