Day 111: A Lesson in Heart from the Cleveland Clinic
Photo by Nicola Fioravanti on Unsplash
Gary and I walked toward Glickman Tower at the Cleveland Clinic today for a checkup. We’ve been here several times in the past few years, and each time, from the moment we step inside, we’re greeted by smiling employees, happy to help. “Go down this hallway, turn left at the giant pumpkin, take your second left and go past the Starbucks to the elevators,” they say.
This time, I noticed the welcome even before we stepped in the building. As we approached the street in front of the tower, a woman dressed in black with a bright yellow safety vest stepped out into the lane ahead of us. “I got you, I got you,” she said, as she held up her left hand to stop the oncoming cars. We crossed without a pause.
S.T.A.R.T.-ing with Heart
More than a decade ago, the Clinic got serious about patient satisfaction. They didn’t come up with the idea on their own; the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid began tracking patient satisfaction data and bumping or docking hospital reimbursements depending on their performance.
As they say in business school, “What gets measured gets managed,” so the Clinic got busy. Every employee, from the CEO to the custodial staff, received Cleveland Clinic Experience training. The training emphasizes that the job every employee, no matter their role, is patient care.
Today, the Clinic maintains an Office of Patient Experience - the first of its kind. The office teaches employees to “S.T.A.R.T. with Heart.” The mneumonic stands for Smile and greet warmly; Tell your name role and expectations, Active listening and assist, Rapport and relationship building, and Thank the person.
Fewer employees than usual followed this protocol with us today. But the crossing guard — the first person we encountered at the Clinic — did her job perfectly. I felt cared about just crossing the street.
It matters. Patient satisfaction, not just a feel-good metric, substantially affects many patient health outcomes.
Bringing it Home
These interactions remind me to bring this wisdom home. Law students, staff, and colleagues at the College of Law are under greater than usual stress these days (not hard to think why). Starting with heart could help take the edge off someone’s day, not to mention cheering me too. I started consciously doing a practice like this at the beginning of the semester (it was that or curl up in the fetal position), and I’m amazed at the effect.
The Clinic also gave me an idea for a training for the aspiring immigration lawyers I train. Like the Cleveland Clinic, we meet our clients in one of the most stressful times in their lives. By remembering to communicate with heart, we can certainly make a painful process more pleasant.
Although I’ve seen no studies on this, I wonder if this kind of engagement and communication might not also improve case outcomes? Unlike hospital patients, are client’s problems are not located within their own bodies. But could our outlook affect outcomes even as to things outside of our immediate physical environment? Perhaps better care leads to better lawyer and client decision making and a more positive impression on adjudicators. Or perhaps non-local consciousness is real.
Either way, it can only improve client care to follow the Cleveland Clinic model, and I’m eager to develop training that our students can practice in the Immigration Law Clinic and fine-tune throughout their careers.