In a recent webinar hosted by the Experience Innovation Network, network members had the opportunity to hear from Troy Bishop, MD, an internal medicine specialist from Summa Health System. In the webinar, Dr. Bishop showed the power of physician leadership to drive experience improvement.

A commitment to patient experience is not new to Summa Health System.  Starting in 2010, Summa has built a solid foundation of best practices, including post-discharge care calls, nurse leadership rounds, improved communication etc.   The hospital system achieved improvement across all HCAHPS domains except one. Physician scores were not improving because the system’s multi-specialty physician group, Summa Physicians, Inc. (SPI), had not been strongly engaged in playing a leadership role in driving change throughout the organization.

“How do you motivate these physicians to instigate change?” That is the key question Dr. Bishop asked when tackling this problem. Summa’s success provides some key lessons:

1. Identify a well-respected…