In the second episode of the Chuck Lauer Show, presented by Alter+Care, the former publisher of Modern Healthcare discusses enhancing patient outcomes with Paul Spiegelman, Founder and CEO of The Beryl Companies, and Dr. Jason Wolf, Executive Director, of The Beryl Institute.  The Beryl Institute is the home for professionals committed to improving the patient experience and developing high performance healthcare organizations.

According to Spiegelman, he began the business with his brothers in 1986 as a bootstrap 24/7 operation whose goal was – and remains — to improve the patient experience.  Spiegelman provided outsourced call-center services to hospitals across the country to match potential patients with healthcare providers.  Although many perceive call centers as a low-morale, high-attrition, low-margins, boiler room commodity operation, Spiegelman was determined to operate his business differently.  Today, Beryl is the nation’s largest company in its niche and is five to six times more profitable than its competition.  Additionally, employee attrition is a fraction of a typical call-center environment.  Thanks to its circle of growth, Beryl has won nine awards for being one of the best places to work in America.

Spiegelman applies that attitude to their work with hospitals and other healthcare providers to assure a better patient experience and enhanced outcomes.  Their philosophy is that hospital employees who are treated with respect are more productive and minister to patients more effectively.  According to Spiegelman, “The question is, how do customers understand this and give you credit for that?  Do they understand the connection between culture and driving better service for them?”

Wolf suggests that one priority is to adopt a simple but specific definition of the patient experience as the sum of all interactions, shaped by an organization’s culture that influence patient perceptions across the continuum of care (The Beryl Institute).  The focus is well beyond the clinical setting to the entire continuum of care.  This encompasses how physicians act towards the patient and how effectively nurses communicate.  A recent benchmarking study from The Beryl Institute has shown that patient experience and safety are top priorities for healthcare leaders, yet only one-third of all healthcare organizations in the U.S. currently define what a patients’ experience should be, one reason why it was important for The Beryl Institute to fashion its own unique definition.

To listen to the full podcast, click here.