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They Brought Me Back Into The Human Race
An extraordinary testimonial from a VP at Stanford Health Care, who unexpectedly became a surgical patient. Listen as he shares his experience as the patient – his fears and [...]
A Compassion-Filled Final Farewell
As we all know, death is a part of life. When a loved one passes, it becomes a sacred time of mourning and remembrance for the family members. Something [...]
Will You Stand Under The Arch?
In any organization, trust and accountability begin with top leadership. After all, if your decision-makers don’t have much confidence in your product or service, how will your employees? And [...]
Taking Customer Service to New Heights
At 35,000 feet above the earth, moving at 550 MPH, I open my laptop and get busy to work. Suddenly, a nice person walks by and says, “Excuse me [...]
On The Path Toward Exceptional Patient Experiences
Our team recently wrapped up a workshop with the dedicated professionals at Baystate Health Women's Services in western Massachusetts. Their team consisted of caregivers and staff from every department [...]
Is Your New Employee Orientation A Cracker Jack Box – Or a Pandora’s Box?
They say you only have one chance to make a good first impression, right? You jump through hoops trying to get the right people into your organization. You invest [...]
Are You Poisoning The Patient Experience With Jargon Monoxide?
Each industry has its own inside language, don’t you think? It’s that jargon or corporate lingo that only employees seem to understand. Using inside terminology isn’t always a bad [...]
The Link Between Kindness and Loyalty
It just makes sense, doesn’t it? If you treat people with kindness, they’ll reward you with their loyalty. It’s a simple concept, but it’s not always easy to instill [...]
The One Phrase We Need To Get Rid Of
Do you and your employees know the difference between daily job tasks and the role you play in contributing to patients’ overall healing experience? If the answer is no, [...]
Which Patient Belongings Bag Would YOU Prefer?
When talking about the patient experience, it’s important to remember that it’s often the little things we take for granted that can leave the biggest impression. For instance, healthcare [...]
What Grows In The Garden
The world is filled with plants and creatures that can live in what would seem to be inhospitable situations. In almost any conditions, there is something that lives and [...]
Tootsie Rolls Can Speak!
A post by ILS team member, Eric Kidwell: My wife and I recently joined a new gym. I won’t name the chain, but one of their little touches is [...]
Be Resolved!
A recent study showed that only 10% of people keep their New Year’s resolutions. That doesn’t indicate that people are particularly “resolved” when they decide what changes they want [...]
Wishes
One of the things I always try to do when I interview providers, staff, or patients is give them a “wish.” I tell them to imagine that I could [...]
Healthcare Car Lot
A post by ILS team member, Eric Kidwell: One of the things that makes healthcare so different from anything other business is that very few people are competing on [...]
Coffee Talk
Sometimes a very simple thing can show empathy and caring in a way that feels small but is really important. For example, I was at a Panera Bread in [...]
Your Locker Room Culture
Two stories from the sports world are showing us how important an organizational culture can be. First, the Boston Red Sox. Just two years ago, they were a culture [...]
The World Series
The professional baseball season is 162 games and as many as 19 games in the playoffs so you can just feel the relief through the happiness of the team [...]
Techno Fail
Traditional thinking is that technology makes things faster and better, right? Not always. For example, just yesterday I was trying to have some workbooks printed at a national chain [...]
Think Before You Speak
A post by ILS team member Eric Kidwell: My mother is in a nursing home. She has dementia. It has been rough. Today, she called me and told me [...]
You Are What You Pay For
Working with organizations all over the country, I find that common sense is not always common practice. One great example is that while so many health care organizations claim [...]
“I Get To Take Care Of You Today”
Somewhere along the way, waiters and waitresses stopped saying “I’m your waitress” and instead changed to “I’ll be taking care of you tonight.” I don’t have a problem with [...]
Patient Math
Jack goes to the doctor. He pays his $50 co/pay for the visit. He assumes that the visit must cost about $300 total though he doesn’t really know. The [...]
Famous For Fifteen Minutes
Andy Warhol’s most famous quote is, “In the future, everyone will be famous for 15 minutes.” I think he might think it was ironic that he is partly famous [...]
Does “La Quinta” Mean ‘The Rude’
A post by ILS team member Eric Kidwell: I travel almost every week and sometimes there are problems that seem to create themselves. Staying at a La Quinta in [...]