By Kimberly Hiles, Senior Director of Experience & Engagement
For most people, surgery isn’t an everyday occurrence. It’s an experience they have only a handful of times in their life, and it’s usually a big, scary, anxiety-inducing event.
At Regent, we understand that the work we do is incredibly important. Not only are we providing the highest quality of care, but we also deliver it in a way that makes our patients and their families feel as comfortable and safe as possible. Our centers consistently achieve top-box patient experience scores in the top decile, showing that our efforts to deliver a supportive care experience resonate with those we care for.
Here are a few best practices we’ve found that make the biggest difference.
Make the most of every patient interaction
One distinctive thing about the ASC setting is the narrow window of time spent with the patient.
In a hospital, patients stay longer and interact with multiple teams. In the ASC environment, they arrive, have their procedure, and go home the same day. This results in a very short period during which the patient is awake and aware.
Because of this, it is critical to engage the patient on the front end of care—setting expectations and helping them understand how the day of surgery will unfold. Once the patient arrives, the entire team is prepared to interact with them and their family in a meaningful way. This includes speaking a language they understand, emphasizing our vigilant focus on safety as the highest priority, and demonstrating heartfelt compassion and human kindness.
Our commitment to the highest standards of care extends beyond our walls. As we ready patients and their families for discharge, we make every effort to equip them with everything they need to heal and flourish at home.
When we do these things well, patients feel informed, confident, and cared about. When we don’t, they can feel rushed or uncertain.
Look beyond just the score: the story behind the numbers
We’ve been able to tap into what’s most meaningful for patients by looking at the full breadth of our data—not just the scores, but the comments, too.
Patient comments tell the story behind the numbers. At Regent, we spend time with our teams digging into that feedback to better understand what great care looks like and how to deliver it more consistently.
A big part of how we bring that to life is through our Experience and Engagement Champions. These are boots-on-the-ground team members at each center who help ensure our approach to patient experience is carried out in a way that reflects our mission and values.
Each ASC develops an action plan based on what patients say matters most to them and where they’re experiencing areas of friction. By focusing on both, we can imagine and create an experience that meets the patient’s needs AND makes them feel cared for.
On top of that, all ASCs are supported by a playbook that outlines our program structure and provides a clear path for implementing the actions that set teams up for success.
Focus on what matters to the patient
When it comes to creating a meaningful experience, a few drivers matter most to patients. By identifying effective, specific actions that “push” these drivers, our values are embodied and “come to life.”
The greatest driver of experience is a patient’s sense of safety. When patients feel safe, they are positioned for a great experience. We have identified specific, tangible actions that point out our built-in safety processes and reinforce our commitment to the highest levels of patient safety. By embedding these actions into our culture, safety is no longer “what we do,” but who we are.
The second driver of experience is behavior-related. At Regent, we practice the Platinum Rule by treating patients the way they want to be treated. This includes speaking a “language of caring,” and finding ways to walk out our values of compassion, ingenuity, and perseverance. Are we fully present and listening when patients speak? Are we embodying compassion when patients are unsure and frightened? When possible, are we sitting down when we communicate to bridge the distance between us?
One of the primary foundations of our approach is training our teams to recognize and thus alleviate patient fears. Studies show that most patients walking into surgery are anxious, nervous, and frightened.
Knowing this, we continually look for opportunities to take a patient from fearful to informed. Even small things can shift perspective. For example, when we use language like “for your safety” as each team member verifies personal information, it helps patients understand why we’re doing what we’re doing. Instead of wondering why everyone is asking the same question again, it reassures them that there is a system in place to keep them safe. Instead of feeling frustrated, they feel safe.
Engagement is not a survey; it is a daily priority
Employee engagement is the hinge that makes excellence possible. Delivering a great patient experience cannot happen without an engaged workforce. When engagement and safety walk arm in arm, the result is a synergy that creates experiences for patients and care teams that exceed expectations.
Building a culture where people feel supported, aligned, and focused on what’s best for patients is the foundation that undergirds our approach.
Personalize the patient experience
One of the most effective ways we ensure our care is compassionate is also one of the simplest. We ask every patient “the caring question”: What is one thing we can do to make sure you receive excellent care today?
The answers vary. Sometimes they want coffee when they wake up, sometimes they want a loved one nearby, sometimes they want their hand numbed before an IV.
Asking the question invites the patient to engage in their care in a personal way. Once they share their greatest need, the entire team aligns to meet that need.
We also focus on setting expectations around the length of stay so patients don’t feel rushed out. When they understand the procedure, recovery timeline, and why they’ll recover better at home, they feel much more comfortable and safer.
Other tools support that effort, including a patient welcome letter that introduces our mission and culture of safety, and “what to expect” videos that help patients feel better prepared before they arrive.
Protect the human element of care
Healthcare is complex. Surgery is complex. And it’s only getting more advanced.
We find ourselves in an age where robots perform surgical procedures. Even so, what impacts the patient’s experience most is people.
We operate in a highly technical environment, but we cannot afford to lose the human element of care. It is the thread that holds everything secure—safety, quality, engagement, and experience.
At the end of the day, it’s not complicated. When you care about people (both patients and the team that delivers care), you care about how that care is delivered. And when you keep the people at the center of every decision, the experiences follow.
At Regent, we know we don’t just impact lives; we impact entire lifetimes. How we care for a patient during one experience can shape how they approach future healthcare experiences. This is the force that drives our commitment to redefine surgical care.