How can a health system improve patient satisfaction by first focusing on staff engagement, and what role do health IT professionals play? Britt Berrett, author of Patients Come Second, shares key insights on employee engagement from the trenches as a hospital CEO for nearly 20 years. Hear his reaction when a health IT professional didn’t believe that IT was vital to patient care. This episode’s unique perspective is a slight change of pace with profound implications for marketers.
Show notes
Air Date: October 6, 2015
Guest: Britt Berrett, author of Patients Come Second, healthcare management undergraduate program director at University of Texas – Dallas
| 3:09 | The HITMC Twitter chat takes place on the 1st Tuesday of each month at noon Eastern, #HITMC |
| 3:26 | What can health care marketing learn from other industries? |
| 5:44 | Consumer expectations from outside health care can make or break health care brands |
| 9:26 | Introducing Dr. Britt Berrett |
| 11:01 | What is employee engagement and why is it important? |
| 13:45 | Why does employee engagement come before patient engagement? |
| 17:58 | How do marketers play a role in employee engagement? Isn’t it an internal initiative? |
| 21:42 | How were you able to get buy off on employee engagement = patient loyalty? |
| 24:41 | Do health IT professionals see themselves as vital to patient care? |
| 28:05 | Every team member becomes part of the equation |
| 28:53 | Whiners, losers and jerks, oh my! |
| 30:44 | Bonus question #1: What’s the best book you’ve read lately? |
| 32:56 | How to engage health IT professionals |
| 38:04 | What trends in health care should we pay attention to? |
| 41:11 | Bonus question #2: If you could be a member of a music group or rock band for a day, who would it be? |
Sound bites
Regarding a hospital team orientation where an IT professional was asked how his work affected patients:
The IT guy says ‘Well I’m in IT, so I’m really not involved in patient care.’ And I stopped the entire orientation and said, ‘Whoa! Are you kidding me? Your mission is to bring technology to the bedside to bless the lives of the patients we serve.’ He goes, ‘No, no, I’m a systems analyst.’ I said ‘Whoa! If you don’t think what you do has impact on that clinical caregiver, you’re wrong.’ … I actually went down later and spoke with the IT staff and talked at length about the role they play in blessing the lives of patients we serve.
Regarding how to embrace employee engagement:
It gets to the old adage, when I’m driving down the road, anyone that drives faster than me is a maniac and anyone that drives slower than me is an idiot. Each of us has a pace on which we embrace change, and each of us gravitates towards a comfort level, and we see it time and time again, myself included. That requires unbelievable personal strength. I’ve taught my kids this important truth, you can pick the adversity, or the adversity can pick you.
Guest biography
Dr. Britt Berrett is a passionate advocate for excellence in healthcare. He is the healthcare management undergraduate program director at the University of Texas – Dallas. He previously served as a hospital CEO and/or president for nearly 20 years including most recently Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, an 898-bed hospital. A passionate presenter on leadership in healthcare, he has been a guest lecturer at SMU, UTD, UTA, BYU, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Health Services, and the American College of Healthcare Executives.
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