2017 Patient Experience Conference Explore, Engage, Excel Conference Highlights October 27, 2017

Over 200 participants, including health care providers, patient and family advisory council members, the community, and administrators attended this year’s conference. 

The keynote speaker, Will Lautzenheiser, shared his experience as a quadrilateral amputee with honesty, passion and humor. He spoke about the immense value of a health care team providing a  “cocoon of love”.

“The best caretakers were the ones who were able to see me as a person “The best caretakers were the ones who were able to see me as a person.” - Will Lautzenheiser

“The patient is a person and has a life “The patient is a person and has a life. When he or she is in the  hospital, everything in the patient’s personal life is invisible. Who she/he is is not obvious.” - Pixie Plummer, MD, on Relationship-Based Care

“If you’d known me seven years ago, you would have said this girl is going to die in a ditch somewhere.” -former patient Sandi Cardaropoli _______________________ Google “Baystate YouTube EMPOWER” to watch Sandi Cardaropoli’s story. Dignity and the Opioid Crisis Panel: Stephen Ryzewicz, MD, Linda Jablonski, RN, former patient Sandi Cardaropoli, and Khadijah Tuitt, RN, BS.

Linda McShane, of the Baystate Medical Center, Patient and Family Advisory Council, talked about wrapping your arms around patient suffering. Linda closed the session with a quote by Edward Everett Hale: “I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do.”

“Provider burnout is a public health crisis “Provider burnout is a public health crisis. Baystate Health has established a Wellness Task Force with the goal of improving the wellbeing of the provider workforce.” - Michael Albert, MD

“Identifying the points of delight and dissatisfaction through Patient Journey Mapping is one strategy to understand relational care in the ambulatory setting.” - speaker, Jason Vallee, VP of Patient Experience, Cheshire Medical Center /Dartmouth Hitchcock

The day ended with an Innovation Challenge that encouraged creative thinking as a means to improving the patient experience.

Pushing themselves to think outside of the box, attendees even used colorful pipe-cleaners to illustrate their solutions and ideas.

Thank you to the 2017 conference planning team and speakers (pictured) and to the attendees for a successful day of important learning about the patient experience.

Together we deliver a higher state of caring. The 2018 Patient Experience Conference is scheduled for Nov. 7, 2018