Workshop: A Pathway for Improved Patient Experience in Safety Net Hospitals

• Ingrid Summers | Managing Consultant | Press Ganey
• Julie Samuelson | Managing Consultant | Press Ganey

Workshop: An HRO State-of-Mind: Process + People Blueprint for High-Reliability Healthcare

• Steve Kreiser | | Press Ganey
• Shannon Vincent | | Press Ganey
• Debbie Hunter | | Press Ganey
• Altaf Staionwala | President & CEO | Mackenzie Health
• Mary-Agnes Wilson | Executive VP, COO & CNO | Mackenzie Health

Workshop: Consumer and Patient Experiences in the Academic Setting

• Joan Kelly | Partner | Press Ganey Consulting

Workshop: Tales from the Field: The Journey to Compassionate Connected Care® Best Practice Strategies to Implement and Sustain Communication, Compassion and Human Connection in Your Organization

• Mary Jo Assi, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN | Associate Chief Nursing Officer and Partner, Strategic Consulting | Press Ganey
• Nicole Rossol | Chief Patient Experience Officer | Stony Brook University Hospital
• Tracy Deaner | Director of Patient Experience | CentraState Healthcare System
• Ryan Baca, MBA, CPXP | Care Experience Executive Director | Presbyterian Healthcare Services

Workshop: The RFactor

• Marty Wright | Partner | Press Ganey Consulting
• Derek Avera | Senior Consultant | Focus3

Lunch

Opening General Session

• Patrick T. Ryan | Chairman & Chief Executive Officer | Press Ganey
• Katie Ledecky | Most Decorated U.S. Female Olympian |

Pat Ryan Opening Remarks, Executive Specialty Awards, Katie Ledecky Keynote Address followed by Pat Ryan Q&A

Building Resilience: Strategic Structures for Safety Culture

• Subashnie Devkaran, PhD, FACHE, CPHQ, FISQua, MScHM | Chair, Quality and Value | Mayo Clinic
• Sean Dowdy, M.D.,FACS, FACOG | Chief Value Officer and Associate Dean of Practice Transformation | Mayo Clinic

Recently, Mayo Clinic Quality unveiled a refreshed strategic plan aimed at creating scalable capabilities to support an unparalleled patient experience, reliable excellence, and care that is always safe, reinforcing Mayo’s Category-of-One performance. Central to this strategy was the development of enabling structures designed to fortify a culture of safety. These structures seamlessly integrate people, processes, and technology to evolve a post-pandemic culture into one that is proactive and resilient. Join us for an insightful session where we delve into Mayo Clinic’s journey of engaging a diverse spectrum of stakeholders—from executives to frontline staff—in a robust safety culture strategy. Attendees will gain valuable insights into the most impactful initiatives that have been implemented, learning practical lessons that can be applied to their own organizations.

Crosswalking Workforce Engagement and Patient Experience Data to Successfully Develop a Business Case for Improving Team-Based Care in an Academic Medical Center

• Rajesh S. Mangrulkar, MD, FNAP | Professor of Medicine and Learning Health Sciences, Director Michigan Center for Interprofessional Education | University of Michigan and Michigan Medicine, Ann Arbor, Michigan
• Chloe Miwa, MPH | Administrative Fellow | Michigan Medicine, Ann Arbor, Michigan
• Nathan Hanke, MS | Strategy and Workforce Belonging Manager, Office for Health Equity and Inclusion | Michigan Medicine, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Like many in healthcare, our academic medical center continues to recover from the stressors and consequences of the pandemic in an environment shaped by intensifying pressures, a dizzying array of accountability data sources, and stark evidence of increasing workforce fatigue and burnout. In health systems we frequently manage these issues in siloes, rather than recognizing their interrelatedness with a unified system and strategy around the Quintuple Aims of Health. Since 2023, the University of Michigan’s Center for Interprofessional Education (C-IPE) has collaborated with health system leaders in units responsible for these Aims to address our multifactorial challenges, and design a cohesive solution roadmap focused on enhancing interprofessional team-based care that can be replicated and scaled. This “C-IPE Systems Transformation Committee” first crosswalked multiple sources of Press Ganey data, and earned buy-in and support from executive leadership to identify units “thriving” and those in “crisis” in at UM-Health. Next, we determined which units would benefit most from our comprehensive support as partners and coaches for designing and executing customized local action plans focused on improving teamwork. Through this process, we collaboratively and cohesively worked to drive better engagement, safety, and the human experience. In this session, we will describe how we crafted a compelling evidence-based narrative to convene and receive support from leaders across every level, and how we are now engaging teams on the frontline to facilitate the application of these principles to the local context.

Employee Engagement and Wellness: The Secret Sauce to Enhancing Patient Experience and Safety

• Linh Dang | Chief Experience Officer | Cook County Health

Since the founding of the original Cook County Hospital in 1834, Cook County Health has been committed to serving the health care needs of the residents of Cook County. Cook County Health remains at the forefront of new therapies and innovations in health care and has been recognized by U.S. News and World Report as a leading hospital for heart failure care for a second year in a row while never neglecting those in need. Attendees to CCH’s presentation will learn how fostering a culture of engagement through a multi-pronged approach leads to higher quality care, better communication, and increased patient trust, ultimately reflected in elevated patient satisfaction scores.

Empowering Nurse Leadership: Transforming Experience and Safety into a Dynamic Duo for Patient Care

• Jacalyn Liebowitz | | Adventist Health West

Nurse leader rounding is recognized as a best practice in enhancing patient care, but achieving consistency and accountability can be challenging. In this session, discover how Adventist Health transformed their approach to nurse leader rounding through a strategic and innovative program spearheaded by their system Chief Nursing Officer and Patient Care Executives (PCEs). Since implementing the program, Adventist Health’s 28-hospital system has achieved statistically significant improvements in key HCAHPS metrics, including “Recommend the Hospital,” Nurse Communication, and Physician Communication. Our session will delve into the successful strategies that led to these impressive outcomes, including the collaborative approach of the CNO and PCEs, and the creation of a well-defined and accountable rounding program. Attendees will gain practical insights into engaging nurse leaders, developing a robust strategy, and fostering accountability to drive meaningful impacts on patient experience and safety. A crucial element of our success was shifting the team’s perspective from viewing surveys solely as measures of satisfaction to recognizing them as critical tools for improving patient safety. This mindset shift was instrumental in driving the program’s success and achieving measurable improvements in patient care.

Engaging Culture Partners as a Key Component of Your Organization’s Cultural Success

• Jenny Fry | | OSF Healthcare

In today’s dynamic healthcare landscape, fostering a value-aligned organizational culture is paramount. Our session, “Growing Leaders and Engaging Teams through Cultivating Culture Partners,” will focus on a part of a robust engagement strategy centered on developing the role of “Culture Partners”. This key role was designed to upskill high potential Mission Partners to support leaders and drive engagement within their teams. This approach not only bolsters the role of all leaders as Chief Culture Officers but also plays a critical role in succession planning and leadership development. Through a blend of actionable insights and real-world examples, this session will demonstrate how cultivating Culture Partners can lead to significant cultural shifts, enhance team morale, and drive engagement. Learn how to identify, develop, and empower these pivotal roles to champion cultural excellence and support your leaders effectively. Join us to discover practical strategies that integrate Culture Partners into your organizational framework, making them essential to your engagement and leadership development strategy. This session is a must-attend for healthcare executives, managers, and culture advocates seeking to harness the full potential of their teams and foster a thriving workplace culture.

From Social Connection to Personalized Care: The Power of Social Capital in Healthcare

• Thomas H. Lee, MD | Chief Medical Officer | Press Ganey
• Baligh R. Yehia, MD, MPP, MSc, FACP | President | Jefferson Health
• Yael K. Heher, MD, MPH, FRCP(C) | Chief Quality Officer | Beth Israel Lahey Health, & Associate Professor - Harvard Medical School
• Michelle Wiles, MA | Vice Chancellor and Chief People & Culture Officer | The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

In a world increasingly driven by technology and data, the human element often gets overlooked. Yet, it’s the connections we forge and the shared values we uphold that can truly transform organizations. Join this panel of healthcare executive innovators, to explore the critical role of social capital in healthcare. Moderated by Dr. Thomas Lee, Press Ganey’s Chief Medical Officer, this session will equip you with practical strategies to strengthen social capital within your organization, while creating a more compassionate, effective, and sustainable healthcare system.

Silence is Not Golden: Amplifying Patient Voices for Delivering Effortless Experiences

• Sven Gierlinger | | Northwell Health
• Joseph Narvaez | AVP | Business Intelligence, Northwell Health
• Carolyne Burgess | AVP, Digital Resource & Analytics | Northwell Health

In New York’s highly competitive healthcare market, home to some of the most advanced medical facilities and highly trained professionals in the world, it can be difficult to differentiate yourself, in the eyes of patients and consumers. Although Northwell Health is supported by a strong foundation of quality care, outcome, and experience delivery, there is a desire to make the Northwell Experience the ‘easiest’ possible so that patients can focus on being patients and caregivers on being caregivers. This presentation will share how the Northwell Office of Patient & Customer Experience and Consumer Digital Services have developed a holistic strategy for achieving this and how the Press Ganey HX Platform is playing a critical supporting role.

Transforming a Healthcare System with Love and Structured Accountability

• Jen Lorenz, DNP, MHA, MA, RN, CPXP, CNE | The Fred C. Rothstein, M.D., Endowed Chief Patient Experience Officer & Vice President, Ambulatory Quality Operations & Analytics | University Hospitals Health System, Cleveland, Ohio

University Hospitals (UH) has been on a 4-year transformational journey to improve our patients’ and employees’ experiences. UH has harnessed the power of love, coupled with structured accountability, to transform a 16-hospital health system into a flourishing and focused system. A thriving health care system has four pillars that intertwine with an excellent patient experience: leadership, employee engagement, quality, and finance. In 2020, UH had a shift in a cornerstone pillar, with a system leadership change. This was quickly followed by the COVID-19 pandemic. As the pandemic progressed and volumes increased, employee and nursing shortages began to take a toll. All of this was followed by the healthcare economic challenges. UH leadership rose to the challenge to rebuild and reinvigorate our workforce and to continue our longstanding commitment to our communities and patients. UH introduced the idea of “love”, initially as somewhat of a grassroots movement within the organization. The clinical transformation committee, now called the “illuminators” as they illuminate the way for others, began to take a structured approach to heal our organization and transform the culture to one of caring, kindness, and compassion, which we recognize as love. The illuminators utilized ritual, rhetoric, and reward & recognition to build trust and spread the culture of love throughout the organization.

Transforming CX Measurement: The Journey Toward Journeys

• Jennifer Neidigh, MHA, CCXP, FCXP-I | Sr. Customer Experience Strategist | Capital Blue Cross

Over the past several years there has been a fundamental shift in consumer experience (CX) strategy and practice toward customer journeys—the end-to-end experience of the customer in seeking to accomplish a goal or meet a need when interacting with a provider. However, many corporate research tracking programs that focus on customer experience are not built around journeys. These legacy systems most often consist of some mix of periodic high-level “relationship” surveys and more continuous “transactional” surveys about specific interactions (call center post-interaction surveys, website intercepts, etc.). The fact that many of these surveys are also producing metrics that are embedded in compensation systems makes them even more difficult to change. In 2023, Capital Blue Cross made a strategic decision to overhaul its legacy CX tracking program to become customer journey-centric. We explored the dynamics of how to make this transition in the context of the critical challenges: building stakeholder support, redesigning multiple surveys around customer journeys without disrupting the operational flow of customer feedback to internal business users, and dealing with compensation-linked CX metrics goals. Lessons learned, and practical advice based on our experience “at the front lines” both designing and driving the implementation of this transition, will be shared.

Workshops Springboard Action Planning and Patient Experience Improvement

• Steph Bayer, JD | Senior Director of Patient Experience | Cleveland Clinic
• Katie Robbins, MBA | Director of Patient Experience | Cleveland Clinic

Cleveland Clinic’s vision is to be the best place for care anywhere and the best place to work in healthcare. To support this vision, we’ve developed a health system workshop framework that promotes a culture of continuous improvement in patient experience. Our approach focuses on better understanding the voice of the patient. By actively listening to our patients, incorporating their feedback into our processes and analyzing key drivers, we can ensure that our efforts to improve patient experience are targeted and effective.

Adapting Leader Rounding to Enhance Patient Connection and Improve Overall Outcomes

• Jessie Reid | | Orlando Health

Discover how a large not-for-profit multi-site hospital system in central Florida implemented standard work to achieve sustained improvements in the patient experience. By leveraging evidence-based strategies to increase teamwork and communication, system leaders implemented a standardized approach to high reliability rounding. Fostering interprofessional collaboration and maintaining strong partnerships with the Press Ganey team, the system improved patient experience top box scores, ranging from 4-8% increases in several Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) domains. This engaging presentation is a must see for all executives, administrators, and hospital leaders.

Beyond Engagement: Elevating the Importance of Employee Experience

• Natali Paz | | Los Angeles County Health Services

In the evolving landscape of healthcare, traditional employee engagement strategies often fail to address the nuanced needs of a diverse and dynamic workforce. At LA Health Services, we recognized the necessity of going beyond engagement to create a comprehensive approach centered around the concept of employee experience. Attend this session to learn how LA Health Services established a standalone, fully resourced team dedicated to this mission—operating independently from HR and patient experience departments to focus solely on workforce needs. Despite the challenges of being a safety net organization, our data-driven and employee-centered approach has yielded remarkable results, including higher employee satisfaction, reduced turnover, and improved patient outcomes. This session will offer attendees an in-depth look at how LA Health Services has transformed its workforce experience strategy to meet the unique challenges of staffing and safety net status. We will discuss the critical role of data in our strategy, how we have redefined the concept of employee experience, and how our innovative approach can serve as a model for other healthcare organizations. This presentation is ideal for healthcare leaders and professionals who are seeking new ways to improve workforce satisfaction and organizational performance in challenging environments.

Deploying a Communication Model Proven to Improve the Human Connection for Patients, Physicians, APP’s, and Caregivers

• Karen Byrnes, MSN, RN, CPXP | System Director Patient Experience Improvement |
• Dr. Swati Mehta, MD, FACP, SFHM, CPXP | Director of Quality & Performance | Vituity
• Marion Moore, MSN, BSN, RN, CPXP | System Director Patient Experience Improvement |

Join us to gain key insights into a new and effective way to build authentic connections with our patients! CommonSpirit Health is the first large health system to spread the “6H Model for Human Connection” (created by Swati Mehta, MD, CPXP) across their entire health system including inpatient, the emergency departments, ambulatory surgery, medical practice and Health-at-Home. In addition to the typical evidence-based practices, “6H Model of Human Connection” has played a pivotal role in moving the needle on patient experience scores (and sustaining that improvement), for both inpatient and emergency medicine teams. This model, through improved provider communication improves patient experience as well as caregiver well-being, and has other benefits such as reduced length of stay, burn- out and readmissions. Following this session, attendees will be able to define the key components of the 6H Model, take away key scripting examples (to improve patient experience) to share with their teams and ways to deploy this tool at a large scale. Come and be inspired to enhance patient experience in your care setting.

End the Waiting Game: Bridging Nursing & Technology

• Michelle Sension | | Baylor Scott & White Heart & Vascular Hospital

Discover how to eliminate delays in patient care response times by integrating clinical nursing and information technology. This presentation showcases the pivotal role of nursing in spearheading transformative innovations and ensuring safe and high-quality patient care. Essential for clinical and data analytics leaders, this session promises to unveil the powerful synergy between nursing and technology in driving impactful changes.

Leveraging the Health Plan/Provider Relationship to Improve Access to Care

• Stacy Friedman | Quality Director | Doctors Healthcare Plan
• Susan Griffin | VP Administration | Doctors Healthcare Plan

Access to care continues to be a topic of concern for members and patients as they navigate through the healthcare system. Difficulties regarding being able to get appointments in a timely manner and seeing the providers they want or need to see are frequent comments received back by both health plans and health systems. The impact of these scenarios is evidenced by the CAHPS quality results in the Getting Needed Care and Getting Appointments and Care Quickly domains. Attend this session to learn how one health plan/health system significantly improved their access to care for members and patients in 1 year and has led to higher member and patient satisfaction scores.

Press Ganey AI Partnership Announcement

• Darren Dworkin | President & Chief Operating Officer | Press Ganey

Discover how AI is revolutionizing the healthcare industry. Moderated by Darren Dworkin, Press Ganey’s Chief Operating Officer, healthcare’s forward thinkers will share insights on the latest AI innovations and their potential to improve patient care, efficiency, and outcomes. Join this session to explore the transformative power of AI in healthcare and learn practical strategies to implement these innovations in your organization.

Recruiting and Engaging Virtual Advisors for More Robust Patient Feedback

• Kevin Phipps, MBA, CPXP | Director, Patient Experience | Emory Healthcare Atlanta, GA
• Nathan Causey, MBA, CPXP | |

Attend this session to learn how a large medical practice created a patient-family advisory council (PFAC) recruitment and engagement model to support shifts in advisor expectations and support a group spread out across a large geographic area by providing rapid, custom patient feedback for quality, safety, and experience improvement. In this model, patients are passively recruited through an online, automated application process linked to our patient surveys. Within 4 months of passive recruitment, the PFAC grew to over 200 members representing all clinical specialties and a variety of patient demographics, skills, and experiences. Rapid patient feedback through PFACs has elevated the voice of patients in dozens of projects and within specialties that have not utilized patient feedback or engaged a traditional PFAC in the past. Patients who may not have participated in a traditional PFAC have shared their perspectives on a variety of topics not captured elsewhere. Underrepresented patient populations are engaging in virtual PFACs more than traditional PFACs.

The I CARE Movement: Hardwiring Service Standards Across an Ambulatory Network

• Theresa Scolaro, CPXP | Assistant Vice President, Patient Experience and Associate Communication | MedStar Ambulatory Services, MedStar Health, Columbia, MD
• Andy Canning, MHA | Vice President, Operations | MedStar Ambulatory Services

Across MedStar Ambulatory Services (MAS), creating an exceptional patient experience begins with delivering on the division-wide service standards, which build upon MedStar Health’s organizational values. In this presentation, we will share how MAS’s service standards were created and implemented, and how they have been sustained since 2017. In partnership with front-line operations and clinical leaders, the “I CARE Service Standards,” which evolved into the “I CARE Movement,” have helped leaders create a strong culture, improve associate engagement, and achieve their patient experience goals, many of which have sustained top quartile performance in a highly competitive environment. MedStar Ambulatory Services’ PX Playbook, guides leaders through building a culture and hardwiring the service standards. During this session, we will share the playbook and provide detail on the role of both the leader and the front-line associate, including the development and implementation of a simple 4-component action plan. We will share how we are using dynamic surveying to measure success, how we track progress on the Key Driver questions using the Focus Items Summary, and how we leverage the role of our Press Ganey team.

The Journey of Safety Event Management & Zero Harm – Moving from Perception to Reality

• Stephanie Hogberg, MSN, RN | AVP Patient Safety | Ardent Health Services
• Kelly Wood, MBA, BSCJA, CPPS | Director – Safety | Safety and Reliability | Bon Secours Mercy Health
• Thomas Hopkins, LSSBB | Jonah, Director Patient Safety | Ardent Health Services

This session is a must-attend for healthcare professionals committed to advancing patient safety and organizational excellence. Attendees will gain valuable insights from Bon Secours and Ardent Health into the evolution of harm classification, the critical role of leadership in fostering a culture of safety, and the innovative methodologies that have driven success. By attending, you will learn actionable strategies for integrating high-reliability principles into your own safety initiatives, enhancing event reporting processes, and leveraging data for more sophisticated safety analyses.

Transforming Stakeholder Engagement through Comprehensive Survey Design

• Luke Redding | Manager Workforce Insights & Operations | WellSpan Health, York PA
• Joy Houck Jones | VP Organizational Development & Chief Learning Officer | WellSpan Health, York PA

WellSpan’s innovative approach to survey design has significantly boosted stakeholder engagement and data usage. Attend this session to learn how the WellSpan team achieved success by involving key stakeholders from the beginning and conducting iterative design sessions to carefully select survey items that aligned with organizational goals and targeted audiences. Clear standards were established for implementation, benchmarking, reporting, and post-survey action planning, resulting in an inclusive survey that addressed nursing excellence, resilience, safety, and engagement—effectively reducing the need for additional surveys. In the post-survey phase, WellSpan formed an interdisciplinary team to support leaders in engagement and improvement planning. Resources were developed based on team engagement data, emphasizing the importance of involving team members in the improvement planning process. Tailored support was provided based on Engagement and Leader Index scores, including specialized training courses on enhancing engagement, communication, coaching, and feedback. These efforts culminated in many stakeholders participating in the Employee Experience Excellence Program, solidifying WellSpan’s commitment to transforming the experiences of team members.

Welcome Reception in the Causeway

Breakfast

General Session – Executive Specialty Awards

• Darren Dworkin | President & Chief Operating Officer | Press Ganey
• Scott Galloway | Entrepreneur & Professor of Marketing | NYU’s Stern School of Business

Executive Specialty Awards, Darren Dworkin Opener, Scott Galloway General Session

Engagement Ecosystem: Understanding and Activating to Drive Engagement, Retention, and Patient Experience

• Shawna Jaworowski, MA | Director, People Analytics | Hartford HealthCare, Hartford, CT
• Sally Strange, PhD, RN | Director of Human Experience-Analytics |
• Brittany Cushman, MAIOP | Business Systems Analyst |

Healthcare is complex, impacting colleague engagement, workforce dynamics and patient experience. The connection between human experience measures is well established; however, not easily implemented in the workplace. To manage effectively and efficiently, leaders are tasked with integrating a vast array of data streams. Stagnant performance and an inconsistent strategy for engagement and other human experience efforts created a lack of improvement. Attend this session to learn how Hartford Healthcare implemented a strategy that fostered leader understanding and connection and the development of a diagnostic model incorporating the engagement ecosystem for the colleague and provider networks. Analyses supported the model’s development providing evidence that the framework reinforces a focused approach to driving human experience. The implementation of the framework, grounded in a leadership sphere of influence, supported improvements, included key metrics that reached their highest scores historically. Learn how this Engagement Ecosystem can be applied to a multitude of healthcare environments with similar outcomes. The model provides an infrastructure to determine focus areas. The architectural design promotes understanding and ease in incorporating results from large data sets. Future goals are to refine and expand the framework to include connections with business strategy rooted in patient and workforce experience and outcomes of retention and financial stability.

Enhancing the Patient Journey Through Collaborative Innovation

• Rebecca Adcock | | AdventHealth

Join us for a transformative panel discussion where we delve into the successful collaboration between Patient Experience, Reputation Management, Nursing, and Operations at AdventHealth in partnership with Press Ganey’s Human Experience product. Discover how these teams united to solve the complex challenge of improving the Emergency Department (ED) experience—a critical touchpoint in the patient journey that shapes hospital reputation and patient retention. Learn about the innovative strategies and Press Ganey tools instrumental in capturing patient feedback and driving continuous improvement. Our session will reveal how these initiatives not only enhanced patient care but also bolstered AdventHealth’s digital presence, setting a new standard for healthcare excellence. Attendees will gain valuable insights into leveraging patient feedback to align patient experience and reputation with operational goals, ensuring that AdventHealth exemplifies the commitment to patient-centered care. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from AdventHealth’s pioneering approach and take away actionable strategies to elevate the patient experience at your organization.

Follow the Yellow Brick Road: Building Brains, Hearts, and Courage in Healthcare Connections

• Dawn Robbins, MBA | System Associate Vice President, Patient Experience | Baptist Health System, Louisville, KY
• Tom Tull, MBA, FACHE, CPXP | Vice President, Chief Experience Officer | Ballad Health
• Kristy Gay, MHA | Chief Experience Officer | Baptist Memorial Care Corporation
• Amberlee Fay, MHA, CXP | Enterprise Director | UK Healthcare
• Brian Carlson, MHA, MBA | Vice President, Patient Experience | Vanderbilt Health

In the dynamic world of healthcare, professionals encounter a diverse array of individuals on their journey, including patients, families, caregivers, leaders, and peers. Each group offers unique opportunities for learning and growth, contributing to the enhancement of patient care. In this session, five Chief Experience Officers from outwardly competitive organizations will come together to share insights and wisdom they have cultivated over decades in healthcare, and how the strong connections they have developed with one another have advanced their personal and professional growth to the benefit of their own organizations. This panel session draws inspiration from the timeless journey of the Wizard of Oz, exploring how healthcare professionals can build brains, hearts, and courage in their interactions to foster more positive experiences for patients. By navigating the Yellow Brick Road of effective communication, compassion, creativity, and leadership, attendees will be equipped with the tools needed to elevate patient care and engagement.

How a Large, Academic Health System Used the Employee Voice to Connect Organizational Priorities

• Tara Villon | | Mount Sinai Health System

Discover how the Mount Sinai Health System has operationalized the “Human Experience” through leadership, strategy and interdisciplinary collaboration to create an organizational culture that allows our employees to bring their best selves to work and provide the highest level of care and service to each other, our patients and their families. In this session, we will share details on the organizational structure needed to support priority alignment and what a large health system has been able to accomplish by listening to employees and using the Press Ganey One Ask Survey data to drive change. Instead of the more traditional silos, Mount Sinai developed cross-functional teams under the CMO and CHRO, including Quality and Safety, Learning, and Patient Experience, to drive change. Participants will walk away with concrete examples of how the data can inform critical initiatives they can start working on as soon as they return to their organizations.

Improving Doctor Communication Through TEMP IDR

• Ashley Harrold | | UF Health Shands

The session will explore the core concepts of patient experience surrounding multidisciplinary strategies that impact the human experience. We will review our process of creating Patient Experience Committees, with a focus on the successes of our Doctor Communication Committee. Communication can positively influence patient experience, adherence, and ultimately can lead to improvement in health outcomes. This session will showcase the work of our TEMP-Interdisciplinary Rounds (IDR). TEMP IDR creates an efficient microsystem on each floor to link daily care processes and create a shared information environment. The team includes the patient and their family, the attending physician, the bedside nurse, the case manager, and the charge nurse or clinical leader.

Leading with Vision: CEO Perspectives on Human-Centered Innovation

• Patrick T. Ryan | Chairman & Chief Executive Officer | Press Ganey
• Roxanna Gapstur, PhD, RN | President & CEO | WellSpan Health
• Joanne M. Conroy, MD | CEO | Dartmouth Health
• Wright Lassiter III, MHA | CEO | CommonSpirit Health

Gain valuable insights from top CEOs on how to prioritize human-centered innovation in healthcare. Moderated by Press Ganey’s CEO, Pat Ryan, this session will feature leading CEOs in healthcare as they share their visionary strategies for enhancing the human experience. These industry pioneers will discuss how they are shaping the future of healthcare, fostering resilience, and driving transformative change.

Orchestrating Member Experiences: From Data to Insights to Action

• Christine McKinney | Interim VP, Marketing & Member Experience | Blue Shield of California

The ability to capture consumer feedback and integrate a 360 degree view of member data is the foundation of exploring opportunities and pain points of members to drive the right action. Learn how Blue Shield of California integrates their voice of customer platform, data and analytics, and its member experience center of excellence to ensure each member is heard — and that there are consumer strategies deployed to improve key moments that matter, driving NPS, retention and ROI.

SPEAK Up for Safety: How HRP Revitalized How We Perceive Harm at Shriner’s Children’s

• Kathleen Nightlinger, OTD, OTR/L | Director of Healthcare Quality and Safety |
• Courtney Millsap | Patient Experience & Safety Data Analyst |

In 2022, Shriners Children’s implemented a new safety event reporting platform – Press Ganey’s High Reliability Platform (HRP) – and with it brought many teaching opportunities for our organization to strive in becoming a High Reliability Organization (HRO). For the first time we have more than one module to capture and analyze safety data, including a module specific to Service Feedback. We have also introduced to our organization the concept of emotional harm, and the connection between emotional harm and patient safety. While we have started this important work, we still have a long road ahead. Join us while we discuss our journey with HRP, emotional harm, and, ultimately, our journey to being an HRO.

The Big M.A.C. Approach: An Innovative Model to Advance Patient Experience Strategy

• Cassie Voltzke, OTR/L, CPXP | Patient Experience Transformation Partner | Essentia Health, Duluth, MN
• Lanie L. Dixon, MBA, CPXP, FACHE | VP, Patient Experience |

Sometimes we fall into the same pattern when thinking about strategy for patient experience, focusing on the data, metrics, targets, or outcomes. But no strategy would be complete without a sound foundational structure. Over the last five years, Essentia Health has found an innovative, structured approach to forming organizational strategy by consciously layering continuous improvement goals with culture-building tactics and thoughtful performance metrics. Discover in this session that a great patient experience strategy is built just like a great burger with the right foundational first steps through the elements of Methodology, Achievement, and Culture topped with the things that make each organization unique.

Utilizing Simple Tools to Elevate the Human Experience While Focusing on Performance and Engagement

• Tina Bennett | | Yale New Haven Health System

Most of us are recovering from the pandemic, searching for ways to get back on track. Finding creative ways to educate, engage, and drive improvement is critically important to achieving better outcomes. Attend this session to learn how Yale New Haven Health System, has gone back to the basics and developed some tactics that are easy to implement and have yielded positive results within our organization. We developed a multi-faceted approach that included collaboration, partnerships and inclusion at all levels with minimum resources. This foundational work has created the connection, engagement, and empowerment to progress into our next phase.

Aligning Reputation with Reality: Duly Health and Care’s Success in Reputation Management

• Anna Vriesema | Director, Digital Marketing | Duly Health and Care, Downers Grove, IL
• Maria McGowan | Sr. Vice President, Marketing |

In today’s digital age, a healthcare organization’s online reputation can be as important as the quality of care provided. Duly Health and Care recognized the challenge of aligning the feedback patients provided through Press Ganey surveys with public reviews on platforms like Google. Often, the reviews posted were either highly positive or negative, creating a skewed perception of patient satisfaction. To bridge this gap, Duly implemented Press Ganey’s Campaigns tool to actively engage satisfied patients and encourage them to share their experiences publicly. In just four months, Duly’s Campaigns strategy has generated nearly 10,000 Google reviews across 800 providers and 120 locations, increasing the average star rating from 3.8 to 4.8 stars. By empowering satisfied patients to share their voices, Duly Health and Care has successfully transformed its online reputation to align with the excellent care it delivers. Join us to learn how Duly’s innovative approach to reputation management has enhanced patient trust, improved visibility, and strengthened our position as a trusted healthcare provider. Attendees will gain insights into the implementation of Press Ganey’s Campaigns tool and the measurable outcomes that demonstrate the power of an aligned reputation strategy in today’s competitive healthcare environment.

Creating a System-Wide Engagement Experience Across the Employment Lifecycle

• Tyler Carpenter | | Tampa General Hospital

Many health systems have faced challenges coming out of the pandemic to focus on engaging with their teams and creating a connected engagement experience across the employment lifecycle. Attend this session to hear how Tampa General Hospital has been able to drive engagement as a system-wide approach, leveraging key data and multiple survey strategies, collaborating with key stakeholders, measuring effectiveness and highlighting opportunities to spotlight engagement opportunities within their multiple locations across the state of Florida. Learning from the feedback that team members provided throughout various points of their career, the organization has identified multiple ways to respond to team members to keep them informed, and support engagement across the system by trying new ideas, focusing on leadership support, and continually evaluating how to remove barriers that impact team member’s engagement and their ability to communicate across the health system.

Driving Member Engagement via Quality Customer Service

• Purvi Shah | Director of Quality Management | VillageCareMax
• Cynthia Rooney | AVP of Quality | VillageCareMax

Satisfied, engaged members have been shown to see their primary care provider more regularly, get preventative care, and adhere to their medication regimens. VillageCareMAX (VCM) recognized that a cornerstone to members being satisfied and engaged is ensuring that those who have direct member interaction must be able to meet the members where they are at in their healthcare journey. In this session, attendees will hear how VCM enhanced their member experience through enhanced customer service capabilities.

Empowering Customer Voices: Transforming Healthcare Through the Patient Family Advisory Council

• Seth Kaplan, MPH | Director of Marketing and Customer Engagment | HonorHealth, Scottsdale, AZ
• Cammy Sanders | Business Operations Manager |

HonorHealth’s explores an innovative approach to integrating customer voices into decision-making processes through its Digital Patient Family Advisory Council (PFAC) in this engaging session. The Digital PFAC serves as a dynamic research panel comprising patients, physicians, employees, and their families, placing stakeholder perspectives at the forefront of organizational improvements. By partnering with Press Ganey and utilizing the HX suite of products, HonorHealth has established ongoing dialogues between providers and patients. Tools such as digital surveys offer real-time feedback, while interactive focus groups and digital diaries enable patients to share detailed experiences. This data-driven methodology has provided HonorHealth with actionable insights to enhance clinical outcomes, increase patient satisfaction, and refine the delivery of care. Participants will gain an understanding of how these patient engagement strategies lead to more responsive and effective healthcare aligned with patient needs and preferences. The session is particularly valuable for healthcare executives, patient experience leaders, marketing professionals, and others interested in improving patient engagement and outcomes.

High Reliability Organizing – From Principle to Practice to Sustainment

• Kathrynn Thompson, BSN, RN | Graduate Certificate in Patient Safety, High Reliability Program Lead |
• Amanda Binnix, MBA, BSN, RN, CPHQ | Director of Patient Safety and Organizational Readiness | Methodist Health System Dallas Texas
• Nicole Templeton, MHSA, BSN, RN, CPPS | Patient Safety Officer |
• Laura Weber, MBA, BSN, RN, CPHQ | Vice President Clinical Effectiveness and Patient Safety | Methodist Health System Dallas Texas

Integrating Newly Built Clinics and Existing Practice Acquisitions Into a Culture of Human Experience

• Amber Stanley | Experience Manager | UNC Health, Morrisville, NC
• Melissa Kochuk | Director of Experience and Operations | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Despite significant, constant growth, UNC Physicians Network (UNCPN) patient experience scores have maintained and even improved year-over-year, with current performance in the top quartile of the Press Ganey National Database for Medical Practices. This session will cover how UNCPN approaches new clinic and group onboarding to embed human experience principles, key UNC Health System values and culture while maintaining local spirit.

Mastering the 10 Critical Elements to Success: Building on a Strong Foundation for Sustainable Improvement

• Barb Bobula, MSMOE, CPXP | Vice President of Patient Experience | Allegheny Health Network, Pittsburgh, PA
• Samantha Callen, MBA | Director, Patient Experience Service Excellence | Allegheny Health Network, Pittsburgh, PA
• Eugene A. Scioscia, Jr., MD | Chief Experience Officer | Allegheny Health Network, Pittsburgh, PA

In 2020, Allegheny Health Network (AHN) presented at the Press Ganey National Client Conference on their successful implementation of Press Ganey’s 10 Critical Elements to Success. Five years later, amidst a rapidly evolving healthcare landscape, AHN revisits these elements, highlighting how they have adapted and remained relevant. The presentation will also offer insights for other healthcare organizations seeking to build a sustainable foundation for providing high-quality, remarkable patient experiences.

Nurturing Innovation: The Role of Engaging Leadership

• Jeff Doucette, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, FACHE, FAAN | Senior Vice President & Chief Nursing Officer | Press Ganey
• Sylvain Trepanier, DNP, RN, CENP, FAONL, FAAN | SVP & System CNO | Providence
• Dr. Veronica Scott-Fulton, DNP, MBA-c, MPH, BSN, BA, NEA-BC | System Chief Nursing Executive | Bon Secours Mercy Health
• Shelley A. Parn | CHRO | OSF Health
• Erica Rossitto, MBA/HCM, BSN, RN, NEA-BC | VP & Chief Nurse Executive | HCA Healthcare

Explore the critical role of nursing leadership in driving innovation and improving patient care. Moderated by Press Ganey’s Chief Nursing Officer, Dr. Jeff Doucette, this panel will discuss how nurses can contribute to a culture of innovation and enhance the patient experience. Join this session to gain practical strategies for empowering nursing leaders and fostering a culture of innovation within your organization.

Patient Experience in Saudi Arabia: A Journey of Transformation

• Naseem Almulla | Customer Experience Director |

In 2016, the Saudi Arabian Government launched the breakthrough Vision 2030 which was built on the needs to diversify the economy beyond oil dependency, enhance the kingdom’s global profile, and modernize the society building on our cultural heritage and legacy. All public sectors had to initiate transformation programs to realize that Vision, and healthcare is no exception. Therefore, the Healthcare Sector Transformation Program (HSTP) was launched. For healthcare, this meant re-thinking its services to improve the human experience and the quality of life for all residents of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. One of the main goals of HSTP is to improve the quality and efficiency of healthcare services, so we started measuring patient experience scores to support this goal. We established a partnership with Press Ganey in 2018 to support improvement in government hospitals. Due to the success of this program, in the following years, measurement was expanded in the private sector and other healthcare systems.

This presentation will focus on the maturity journey of the patient experience program in the Saudi Health Private Sector to achieve Vision 2030. Attendees will gain an understanding of how we started measuring ‘What Matters Most’ and what did we do to improve using Press Ganey data. The focus in this presentation will be on the journey of measuring and improvement patient experience in the private sector and how the Council of Health Insurance CHI as a regulator supports this journey. They will also share some of the tailored and localized best practices that we are happening to support this journey of transformation.

The Lifepoint PX Playbook

• Jenna Kelly | | Lifepoint Health

Lifepoint Health, a system of 62 hospitals across 33 states, faced the challenge of balancing local autonomy with system-wide consistency. To address this, they developed a Patient Experience (PX) Playbook that standardized improvement strategies while allowing for local adaptation. This session will explore how they overcame obstacles, achieved measurable results, and leveraged Press Ganey data and expertise to drive positive patient outcomes. Attendees will learn how to:

• Develop a tiered approach to standardization that balances system-wide goals with local needs.
• Implement a successful leader rounding program to improve patient satisfaction and engagement.
• Utilize Press Ganey data and insights to inform improvement priorities and measure impact.

By sharing our experiences, we aim to inspire and equip healthcare leaders with practical strategies to enhance patient experience and drive organizational success.

Lunch

General Session – Executive Specialty Awards

A Team Approach to Delivering High-Impact Projects

• Payton Lawton | | Cedars-Sinai
• Ani Demurchyan | |

To achieve success in high-impact projects, adopting a collaborative team approach is crucial for leveraging tools, resources, and perspectives effectively. Following their transition to Press Ganey and with their support, the Cedars-Sinai Patient Experience team gained proficiency in leveraging the HX Platform to execute a successful house-wide project on improving their “Staff Worked Together to Care for You” metric. To share these best practices, they will provide a roadmap to successfully deliver a high-impact patient experience project in partnership with Press Ganey. Throughout our showcase, we will share how we utilized and leveraged the following best practices to drive improvement.

Building Brand Loyalty: The Intersection of Technology and Human Touch

• Chrissy Daniels, MD, MS | Chief Experience Officer | Press Ganey
• Camille Haycock, MS, APN, NEA-BC | SVP, Patient Experience | CommonSpirit Health
• Jennifer Bollinger | SVP, Chief Consumer and Brand Officer | Sutter Health
• Sunni Barnes, PhD | CEO | Baylor Scott & White
• Heather Geisler | EVP, Chief Brand & Experience Officer | Henry Ford Health System

Learn how to create a strong brand identity and foster patient loyalty in the digital age. Moderated by Press Ganey’s Chief Experience Officer, Chrissy Daniels, this panel will discuss the importance of combining technology with personalized care to deliver exceptional patient experiences. This session will provide practical strategies for leveraging technology to build brand loyalty and enhance the human touch in healthcare.

Epic x Press Ganey: Unlocking Personalized Healthcare Experiences

• Sam Seering | Product Director | Epic
• Matt Schaefer | VP Partnerships | Press Ganey

Join Matt Schaefer, Press Ganey’s Vice President of Partnerships, and Sam Seering, Epic’s Product Director, to learn how Press Ganey and Epic are driving the future of personalized healthcare experiences. These industry leaders will provide an update on live features and share the continued collaborative roadmap to integrate patient experience seamlessly with workflows, empowering your staff and optimizing platform integration across the entire enterprise.

Harnessing Innovative Solutions for Comprehensive Strategy Development

• Stephanie Jones-Wood, MPH, COHQ | Director, Professional Experience & Fulfillment | Houston Methodist Physician Organization, Houston, TX
• Kimberly Goode | |

How Houston Methodist leveraged Press Ganey tools and other resources to study its engagement gap between staff experience and physician experience. Further, Houston Methodist will detail how it leveraged Crowdsourcing to validate other qualitative methodologies, generate improvement ideas from clinician voice, and assess clinician buy-in on ideas for improvement.

How a Healthcare System Moved From “Checking the Box” Compliance to Meaningful Real-Time Coaching to Drive Patient Experience Results

• Marcello Khattar, MBA | Director Patient Experience | Adventist HealthCare, Gaithersburg, MD

Join Adventist HealthCare to discover how they achieved their highest HCAHPS scores in five years by transforming Hourly Rounding practices. Learn about their innovative program, which emphasizes real-time coaching, leader observations, and staff education to build trust, enhance patient outcomes, and fulfill their vision to provide a world-class patient experience to every person, every time.

In this session, you will explore how Adventist HealthCare:

• · Developed a robust data strategy that uncovered crucial insights, revealing that patients who experienced hourly rounding had HCAHPS scores 29 percentage points higher across all domains.
• Engaged in ongoing coaching observations, with over 25,000 sessions conducted to date, demonstrating how continuous coaching engagement is driving improvements in patient-reported outcomes and rounding compliance.
• Shifted from passive documentation to proactive skill development and actionable enhancements through targeted data analysis and real-time coaching.
• Increased patient-reported hourly rounding by 13 percentage points, reflecting significant HCAHPS improvements.

This session will provide invaluable insights into leveraging data, enhancing leadership involvement, and implementing continuous coaching to boost patient experience, improve performance, and achieve higher HCAHPS scores while pursuing High Reliability Organization (HRO) goals. If you’re seeking actionable strategies to enhance your healthcare practice, this is the session for you!

How Patient Reviews and Star Ratings Elevate Engagement – A Provider Love Story

• Kevin Hill | | ECU Health

It is exciting when an innovation is identified that delivers results in several important healthcare strategic imperatives all at the same time! Improving healthcare loyalty, trust and brand is top of mind for every healthcare CEO and service line leader, as is the engagement and well-being of physicians. At ECU Health we use the power of the patient voice from patient surveys to extend gratitude directly from patients, elevate provider online reputation and contribute to their feelings of alignment, engagement, purpose and value.

Maintaining Positive Member Experiences and High Performance in the Shifting Healthcare Landscape

• Elizabeth Benz | Vice President Operations | Network Health
• Jess Vander Zanden | Vice President, Quality and Clinical Integration | Network Health

People trying to manage their health and care are faced with a constantly changing landscape: new advances in diagnostics and treatments, organizational mergers, acquisitions and closures, and rising costs, to name a few. Healthcare organizations, both health systems and health plans, are facing these same shifts on top of dealing with evolving regulatory requirements at the state and federal levels while striving to maintain high-quality products and services. Learn how Network Health, a privately-owned health plan that is provider sponsored by Froedert Health and Ascension WI, has navigated these challenges successfully by focusing on member experience.

Prioritizing Safety: A Strategic Roadmap to Reducing the Occurrence of Safety Events

• Marcia Baker, DHA, MSN, RN, CPPS | Patient Safety Program Director | Novant Health
• Trudy Marks, MHA, BSN, RN, CPPS | Patient Safety Program Director |
• Kristin Murphy, PharmD, BCPS, BCPPS, CPPS | Mgr Pharmacy Medication Safety |

In the ever-changing field of healthcare, setting safety priorities is crucial for ensuring patient safety, well-being and organizational resilience. This session will explore effective strategies for identifying, evaluating, and implementing safety priorities. Attendees will learn about evidence-based approaches, engaging multidisciplinary engagement, and the integration of innovative technologies to drive meaningful improvements in healthcare. These strategies can be contributed to reducing the occurrence of serious safety events. Join us to discover how to create a culture of safety that supports both patients and healthcare professionals, leading to improved outcomes and enhanced safety in healthcare systems.

Proactive Leader Strategy to Improve Human Experience

• Viji George, DNP, MA, RN, RNC-NIC, NEA-BC | Clinical Excellence Program Manager, Texas Health Resources, Magnet Program Director | Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Plano
• Laura Massey, DNP,MHA,RN,CPN | Chief Nursing Officer | Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Plano

In the ever-changing world of healthcare, it is a challenge for nurse leaders to motivate nursing staff to be involved in the organization’s initiatives and constantly meet the patients’ and consumers’ needs to improve human experience. Intentional initiatives can improve culture, structural empowerment, and professional growth, leading to clinical and nursing excellence. A five-prong approach (consumer focused care, professional governance, recognition, wellness, and DEI ) led to robust staff engagement and improved staff and consumer experience. This focused strategy improved staff engagement and consumer experience, resulting in meaningful professional practice environment in the organization. The key element of human experience is consumer focused care – consumers of health care include the employee, patients, and other stakeholders. Behind every healthcare data point is a human and by analyzing data – both quantitative and qualitative, identifying gaps and problems and seeking solutions to improve overall human experience is greatly needed. Healthcare is a complex and highly competitive system. The constant journey to keep up with scientific and technological advances to provide safe, quality, and human-centered care is an ongoing challenge. This presentation will focus on the professional governance problem solving approach involving leaders and frontline staff, employing a human experience mindset for staff and consumers leads to culture of excellence.

The Experience Performance Score (EPS)

• Vanessa Mona | Vice President, Consumer Insights and Experience | Henry Ford Health, Detroit, MI
• Julie Goldstein-Dunn | Director Experience Insights and Analytics |

This session introduces the Experience Performance Scorecard (EPS), a tool that measures patient satisfaction across each phase of the end-to-end journey. The EPS provides near-real-time feedback at each phase, enabling identification of the factors impacting overall scores and predicting satisfaction outcomes based on feedback from each touchpoint. Traditionally, patient experience was captured through a single survey at the end of an encounter, with questions designed to meet regulatory guidelines. These surveys, sent via mail, email, or text, offered limited actionable insights. In contrast, the new approach involves surveying patients throughout their journey, capturing in-the-moment feedback via text and email. The questions focus on key experience opportunities for improvement and aim to generate a comprehensive end-to-end Experience Performance Scorecard (EPS). This broader view of the patient experience utilizes both traditional and new Press Ganey tools.

Grab & Go Breakfast

2025 Product Roadmap: Innovation and Insights for the Future of HX

• Anne Wellington | SVP, Strategy and Partnerships | Press Ganey

Join Anne Wellington, Press Ganey SVP of Strategy and Partnerships, for a look at our newest features and an exciting preview of the 2025 Product Roadmap, featuring transformative updates to the HX Platform. Learn how Press Ganey is pushing the boundaries of healthcare experience management by connecting data across the enterprise, leveraging AI to generate deeper insights, and streamlining workflows with advanced technology. This session will showcase innovations like GenAI-powered text analytics, AI-driven insights to improve decision-making, and tools designed to empower your team to act faster and more efficiently. See how these updates will help you stay ahead of the competition and deliver personalized, impactful experiences at scale.

Building a Culture of High Reliability at a Safety Net Community Hospital

• Taruna Banerjee | | Cambridge Health Alliance
• Brianne Goodwin | | Cambridge Health Alliance

Clinician Patient Relationship Council – Engaging Physician Leadership in Program Development

• Christopher Fonseca | | UCLA Health

Attend this session to learn how UCLA formed an effective clinician patient relationship council to engage physician leadership. The program was responsible for the construction, implementation, and management of three new physician-led, multi-disciplinary committees, with the intention to build a strong collaboration between the Office of Patient Experience and our physician colleagues. Strategies were aimed at areas of opportunity including process for addressing patient behaviors, infrastructure for physician transparency appeals and enhanced tools for communicating with the Office of Patient Experience. We empowered our physician colleagues and leveraged their leadership strategies to help develop and evolve our Patient Dismissal Committee, Safety Alert Committee, and Physician Comment Appeal Committee in addition to UCLA Health System policies and practices associated with each committee and our extensive continuum of care.

Engaging Patients as Consumers: Using Commercial Best Practices & Advanced Technologies

• Ben Wolfe | Director, Digital Transformation | Rush University Medical Center
• Phil Shaw | Director, Patient Relations | Rush University Medical Center

Rush is committed to transforming the healthcare experience using the power of digital technologies and innovative operating models. Learn how we are utilizing digital personalization and engagement techniques to understand consumers’ needs and expectations for their healthcare experience, design new, innovative service offerings to meet and exceed those expectations and collect real-time, micro-feedback that drives real-time customer service and service recovery interventions to keep patients satisfied, engaged, and healthy.

Enhancing Patient Experience and Operational Efficiency Through Strategic Alignment and Innovative Training in Ambulatory Care

• Miranda Merriman, MHI, CPXP | System Director, Ambulatory Patient Experience | Patient Relations | Inova Health, Fairfax, VAbar
• Julie Edmond | Patient Experience Performance Advisor | Inova Health

In the rapidly evolving healthcare landscape, enhancing patient experience while maintaining operational efficiency is critical. This session outlines a comprehensive approach to addressing challenges in 300 ambulatory clinics through targeted initiatives focused on improving patient interactions, data transparency, and team engagement.

Igniting Hope: Returning to Our Core to Transform Experience

• Ann Louise Tisdale-Ramos, MBA | System Director, Talent and Organization Effectiveness | UHS, Binghamton, New York
• Sheri Lamoureux | Vice President | CHRO

In this session, attendees will explore UHS’s transformation journey, which focused on a return to a listening strategy rooted in core values—compassion, trust, respect, teamwork, and innovation. Faced with challenges like low engagement, high turnover, and collaboration gaps, UHS shifted its approach to actively listening to its workforce, using insights from safety and engagement surveys to drive change. The speaker will share how UHS applied this listening strategy to implement data-driven actions, enhance leadership accountability, and address critical workforce concerns. By leveraging Press Ganey data and employee feedback, UHS developed targeted action plans, launched leadership education programs, and established accountability frameworks that fostered a culture of continuous improvement. Attendees will leave with actionable tools they can apply immediately, such as simplifying communication, aligning with core values to enhance workforce engagement, utilizing multiple channels for improvement and decision-making, and building frameworks for leadership accountability and alignment.

Norton Way: Aligning Experience Partner Strategies

• Lauren McCall | | Norton Healthcare

During this session, Norton Healthcare, a health care system based in Louisville, KY employing over 23,000 individuals, explains how experts in Patient Experience, Employee Experience, Center for Professional Growth and Development, Equity/Inclusion/Belonging, and Risk Management / Patient Safety created a culture steering committee to align the human experience. Branded “Norton Way,” key 2024-2025 projects developed include: Norton Way brand, Norton Way communication alignment, Norton Way employee and leader onboarding and development redesign, Norton Way peer influencer program and Norton Way rounding. In this session, the Norton Way employee and leader onboarding and development redesign project will be covered in greater detail.

Pecha Kucha Panel: “If only I had known… Lessons I have learned as a healthcare leader…”

• Richard Corder | Senior Principal, Consulting & Professional Services | Press Ganey

Unlocking New Insights with Dynamic Surveying 2.0

• Jaqui Dixon | | Vanderbilt University Medical Center

The healthcare landscape changes almost as quickly as the landscape of your front lawn during springtime – it seems like every day there is a new initiative “popping up”. By leveraging tools and insights offered by Press Ganey, VUMC is not only enhancing patient care, but also fosters a culture of continuous improvement. As the healthcare landscape continues to evolve, our ability to swiftly adapt and refine our approaches ensures that we remain at the forefront of patient experience excellence, making every effort count toward better outcomes and a more personalized care experience.

Amplifying Patients and Families’ Voices Around Perceived Discrimination

• Megan Nghe, MSN, RN | Director of Patient Experience and Feedback | Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
• Dr. Jennifer Danzig, MD | Associate Medical Director, Office of Feedback |

Join us for an engaging discussion on the innovative process developed by the CHOP Office of Feedback to analyze and respond to patient and family feedback around perceived discrimination, in line with Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act. This session will showcase our multidisciplinary taskforce approach, utilizing Rapid Cycle Improvement Strategies to enhance patient experiences and drive systemic change. This session aims to inspire healthcare professionals to adopt similar frameworks, ensuring all patients and families feel welcomed, cared for and valued. Join us as we share strategies to transform patient encounters and promote equity in care.

Daily Huddles Applied – Driving Improvement in Ambulatory and Clinical Outcomes

• Lorelle Scheuer, BSN, RN | Advisor Ambulitory Quality and Patient Safety | OhioHealth, Columbus, OH
• Chhavi Katyal | | Catholic Health
• Maddy Stern, MS | Research Data & Technology Consultant | OhioHealth, Columbus, OH

Elements of a Patient Experience Program

• Shruti Patel | | Providence

How Press Ganey’s Age Segmentation Report Inspired the Purest Form of Patient Engagement

• Mel Carrillo | | The Queen's Health System

Learn effective strategies on how the Patient Experience team took a novel approach towards improving the patient experience for underserved and vulnerable patient populations identified by Press Ganey’s age segmentation reports resulting in top quartile HCAHPS results. Attendees will learn how to leverage the hospital’s geriatric providers, inpatient nursing, volunteer services, patient experience and senior leadership team to create a volunteer program with strategies and activities that help with patients’ memory, mobility, social, physical and cognitive well-being.

Language Access and the Human Experience

• Ryan Baca, MBA, CPXP | Care Experience Executive Director | Presbyterian Healthcare Services
• Beatriz Juarez Rivera, CHI | Language Access Supervisor | Presbyterian Healthcare Services

Presbyterian Healthcare Services is enhancing health equity and the human experience through access to language services. Their initiative addresses the challenges healthcare organizations face in effectively serving Limited English Proficient (LEP) patients. This session will showcase Presbyterian’s innovative strategies that led to significant improvements in interpreter utilization and experience, particularly for Spanish-speaking patients. Discover how their comprehensive, high-reliability approach addressed critical gaps in interpreter access, technology and clinician training.

Leadership in Healthcare: Navigating Change and Inspiring Excellence

• Patricia L. Jackson, MBA, SHRM-CP | National Director, Affiliate Engagement | Planned Parenthood

In the dynamic landscape of healthcare, effective leadership is paramount to navigating change, improving patient outcomes, and fostering a culture of excellence. This presentation explores the essential qualities and strategies of successful healthcare leaders. This presentation will delve into the challenges and opportunities faced by leaders in a post-pandemic world, emphasizing the importance of resilience, innovation, and empathy. Attendees will gain insights into leadership styles that inspire and engage healthcare teams, drive performance improvement, and create an environment that prioritizes employee and patient experience. By examining case studies and best practices, this session provides actionable takeaways for current and aspiring healthcare leaders committed to making a lasting impact on their organizations and communities.

Leveraging Your Online Reputation to Drive Marketing Initiatives

• Jill Lupinetti, MPH | Supervisor, Online Reputation Management | Universal Health Services, Inc., King of Prussia, PA

In this session, Universal Health Services, Inc. will share how they leverage the Press Ganey Consumerism Platform to drive corporate marketing initiatives. This includes using the platform to gain robust online feedback, which is used to create patient testimonials for digital and print marketing as well as social media content. In addition to gaining robust feedback, Universal Health Services, Inc. will share how they engage with their consumers and hospital marketing teams through review responses and real-time review alerts. While online reviews are visible in raw form on online review sites, creating patient testimonials allows Universal Health Services, Inc. to control their marketing narrative rather than rely on a one-dimensional online review. In addition to improving their online reputation, Universal Health Services, Inc. will share examples of how they leverage online reviews to promote new service lines, increase community and social media engagement, as well as employee engagement and new hire recruitment.

Slaying the Disengagement Dragon

• Mickey Foster | | FirstHealth of the Carolinas
• Susan Beaty, MSN, R.N | President | MRH-Hoke

As health care leaders, we recognize that the cornerstone of exceptional patient experiences and high-quality, safe patient care is an engaged and dedicated workforce. That’s why employee engagement has been at the forefront of priorities for FirstHealth Chief Executive Officer Mickey Foster. During this session, Mickey Foster and engagement champions Susan Beaty, MSN, R.N., president of MRH-Hoke, and Shannon Smith, MSN, R.N., associate nurse executive, will reveal how FirstHealth regained significant traction in employee engagement through targeted strategies and investments in well-being, communication and empowering engagement ambassadors to lead the charge. They will share a compelling journey from adversity to triumph, designed to inspire other health care leaders to enhance their employee engagement efforts.

The Journey to Sustained Top Decile Success

• Jessie Reich, PhD, RN, ANP-BC | Director of Experience and Magnet Programs | Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
• Janelle Harris, MSN, RN, NE-BC | |

A Health Network’s Journey From Top Quartile Patient Experience to World-Class Patient Experience

• Regina Shupe, DNP, RN | Executive Director Patient and Guest Services | The Christ Hospital Network, Cincinnati, OH
• Dana Cheyne, MHSA | Manager, Patient and Guest Services & Volunteer Services | The Christ Hospital Network, Cincinnati, OH

Who doesn’t want to move great patient experience to world class experience? In 2018 we embarked on a journey to elevate our entire health network (Inpatient and Outpatient) from top quartile patient experience to top decile patient experience. What we found is that we had to take an inside look at ourselves and our culture before we could look outside at our patient and guest experience and what an exciting journey this has been. We began our journey in 2018 and by 2020, we found ourselves facing challenges we never thought possible. We traveled through a global pandemic, lost staff, providers and patients, and had to learn to be innovative while also learning how to be rock solid consistent in the care of our team that translated to a world class experience for our patients.

Elevating Excellence: Transforming Patient Safety, Quality, and High Reliability Through Provider Engagement and Leadership

• Alana Newman | | University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
• Dr. Carmen Gonzalez | |

Enhancing Patient Experience: A Two-Year Journey of Transformation at Bon Secours Mercy Health: “Building Structure”

Bon Secours Mercy Health, a prominent Catholic health organization with a legacy of compassionate care across the United States and Ireland, embarked on a strategic initiative in 2022 to enhance patient experience. This journey sought to align our faith-based mission with the goal of exceeding patient expectations through comprehensive, data-driven strategies. Join us to hear how we met – and exeeded these initiative and remain committed to sustaining these improvements through tools like HX and iRounds, further advancing our KPIs and multi-disciplinary approach to delivering exceptional care and patient experience.

Evolving Care Models: Shaping the Future of Nursing Practice

• Jeff Doucette, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, FACHE, FAAN | Senior Vice President & Chief Nursing Officer | Press Ganey
• Nicole George | VP, Associate Chief Nursing Officer | Press Ganey

Join us for a dynamic panel discussion exploring emerging nursing care models and the transformative role of AI in enhancing nursing efficiency. Our panelists will share insights on innovative approaches to patient care that prioritize collaboration, technology, and patient-centered outcomes. The conversation will delve into how AI tools are streamlining administrative tasks, optimizing workflows, and ultimately allowing nurses to focus more on patient interaction. Attendees will gain a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities presented by these advancements, as well as the implications for nursing education and practice. Don’t miss this opportunity to engage with thought leaders and shape the future of nursing in an evolving healthcare landscape.

Growing & Sustaining Patient Family Engagement at a Safety-Net, Multi-Campus, Academic Medical Center

• Keith Laffler, MS Ed | Patient Family Advisory Committee Manager | University of New Mexico Health System
• Jennifer Rice | Manager, Patient Experience |

Creating and sustaining patient and family engagement at a safety net, multi-campus, academic medical system can seem challenging and overwhelming. With multiple campuses and off-site clinics, as well as the complex and diverse population that our health system serves, finding strategies for engaging patients and families alongside hospital staff can appear difficult and daunting. Yet, it is so important to build connections to community in order to foster accountability and trust, thus engaging the patients we care for. Join this session to learn best practices to instituting a PFAC and methods for maintaining momentum of the committee that allows for growth in trust and accountability within their community.

Innovation in the Patient Experience: A Conversation with Chrissy Daniels

• Chrissy Daniels, MD, MS | Chief Experience Officer | Press Ganey

Join Chrissy Daniels, Press Ganey’s Chief Experience Officer, for a thought-provoking discussion on the future of the patient experience. In this session, she will share insights on the latest trends and innovations shaping patient experience, explore how technology can enhance patient-centered care, and discuss strategies for fostering a culture of innovation. Learn how to stay ahead of the curve in the rapidly evolving healthcare landscape.

Mastering OAS CAHPS: Crafting a Winning Program Strategy

• Tabatha Cooper | Senior Director Care Experience Operations | HCA Healthcare, Nashville, TN

Early insight into the OAS CAHPS program has led to meaningful information that is helping improve the experience for patients while allowing care givers to not focus on the interpretation of the change. Actionable insights are gleaned at the unit or specialty level and are most effective when the feedback is received quickly. HCA Healthcare’s sampling strategy to maximize the ability to connect patient feedback to individual patient attributes as well as utilizing the text and email modes for the quickest response times possible, allows for maximum improvement opportunity. Looking into the future, this strategy can be used to anticipate and enhance the HCAHPS program that will impact CMS performance programs as well as providing valuable insights to continue the HCA Healthcare mission.

Resilience in the Healthcare Workforce Crisis: Strategies for Well-being and Retention

• Jessica Dudley | Chief Clinical Officer | Press Ganey

Join Dr. Jessica Dudley, Press Ganey’s Chief Physician Officer, for a critical discussion on the challenges facing the healthcare workforce. In this session, she will explore the key drivers contributing to burnout and turnover, and share practical solutions for improving well-being and retention. Learn how to create a supportive work environment, address workforce shortages, and ensure the sustainability of your healthcare organization.

We Funded Kindness

• Doug Johnson | Patient Experience Officer | Endeavor Health, Chicago Suburbs, IL
• Debbi D Seibel, MSW, LCSW | |

All health systems want to be more human, but they don’t (necessarily) know how. There is a way to enhance team member engagement and patient experience at the same time. “We Funded Kindness” will help organizations see that it is possible to measure kindness and to make sure that Mission and Vision Statements don’t become just words. This session will go step by step with how we did it, how you can do it, and we’ll include some of the best pictures and stories ever! The world needs more kindness. Say yes to attending this session and help make your health system a little more human.