"What are 'patient experience teams' and what do they do?"

Our patient experience teams are an important part of the pre-design phase for the new OMHS hospital. These diverse teams include community members, doctors, nurses, hospital staff and representatives from our architectural firm. Their recent assignment was to learn what patients want, need and expect to meet their healthcare needs.

Each of the teams was assigned to a specific department/service line of the hospital and spent significant time conducting research—talking to patients and patient family members, shadowing hospital staff on rounds, and photographing and journaling their experience.

More than 100 team members took an open-minded, creative approach to determining the ideal patient experience and also considering needs defined by families and visitors for the new hospital. Their insight will assist the architects, transformation teams and department leaders in designing a hospital that meets the ideal. The result will be a more effective, safer, patient-centered environment.