1. Can you share a brief overview of your role and how it connects to patient and staff experience in healthcare?

I am the Chief Experience Officer for NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens. The primary role of this job is to bridge the gap between patient and staff needs by optimizing experiences on both sides, recognizing that a happy and supported staff leads to better patient care, and a positive patient experience contributes to a healthier, more rewarding work environment for staff.

2. In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges and opportunities in enhancing human experiences in healthcare today?

The biggest challenges are access to care, healthcare inequality, poor communication among healthcare teams, staff burnout, technology integration and data security. The biggest opportunities are telemedicine, AI and machine learning, a commitment to person-centered care, health education and empowerment and health data interoperability. By addressing these issues, we can create a more effective, accessible, and compassionate healthcare system.

3. How do you see technology, such as AI and digital health solutions, shaping the future of patient and staff experiences?

AI can help with early disease detection, predict patient outcomes, and optimize treatment plans. AI-driven tools can also improve administrative efficiency, freeing up time for healthcare providers to focus more on patient care.

4. With the shift toward healthcare consumerism, how can healthcare organizations balance operational efficiency with delivering personalized, compassionate care?

Balancing operational efficiency with delivering personalized, compassionate care is a delicate task for healthcare organizations, especially with the increasing demand for consumer-centered healthcare. Striking this balance can be achieved by leveraging technology to enhance personalized care (AI, telemedicine), streamlined administrative processes (LEAN) and fostering a culture that values both efficiency and empathy.

5. What innovative strategies or best practices have you implemented (or observed) that significantly improved patient or staff engagement and well-being?

Some of our employee strategies include H3 (Helping Healers Heal) program which focuses on employee wellness, consistent executive leader rounding and the development of a peer-to-peer recognition program.

6. What key takeaways or actionable insights do you hope attendees will gain from your session at the International PX Congress?

Crafting a successful customer experience (and as leaders, our employees are also our customers) requires the utilization of effective communication. This is not as easy as it sounds. Every interaction provides an opportunity to delight or destroy the customer experience, Together, we will identify and illustrate the keys to success, which include listening skills, verbal and non-verbal language, empathy and compassion. We will also explore cultural competency and communicating with patients who come from other countries and/or speak languages other than English.