Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Heather Geisler, Executive Vice President and Chief Brand and Experience Officer at Henry Ford Health

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Heather Geisler, Executive Vice President and Chief Brand and Experience Officer at Henry Ford Health · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

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  - There's a small circle of people who truly
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  - visit beckershospitalreview.com
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  - upper right.
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  - Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Becker's Healthcare
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  - podcast.
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  - I'm Mackenzie Bean, associate vice president and managing
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  - editor of Becker's Hospital Review.
• 1:01
  - I'm really looking forward to our conversation today
• 1:03
  - on the podcast.
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  - We're joined by Heather Geisler, who is executive
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  - vice president and chief brand and experience officer
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  - of Henry Ford Health.
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  - Heather, thanks for joining us today. How are
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  - you?
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  - I'm great, Mackenzie. Thanks so much for having
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  - me on. It's such a pleasure.
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  - We're
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  - the pleasure is all ours. I'm so excited
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  - to dig deeper into a lot of the
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  - meaningful work that you're doing at Henry Ford.
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  - But before we go into that, I just
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  - was hoping you could share a little bit
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  - more about yourself and your role.
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  - Sure.
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  - I have had the privilege of being at
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  - Henry Ford for
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  - oh my goodness. I think it's been six
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  - years now.
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  - Six terrific years.
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  - I joined the organization
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  - and was really excited about this role because
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  - I have the opportunity
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  - to,
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  - impact. I oversee all of our marketing, all
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  - of our communications,
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  - and all of our,
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  - care experience, consumer experience, and insights work. So
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  - it's such a,
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  - interesting role because it really does allow me
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  - to have some influence and impact on the
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  - levers that really do influence the end to
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  - end patient experience,
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  - or the broader consumer experience. But I was
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  - actually new to healthcare when I came to
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  - Henry Ford. I actually joined Henry Ford from
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  - Hyatt Hotels Corporation,
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  - in Chicago.
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  - I worked at their corporate headquarters.
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  - I was the SVP of global brands, so
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  - I really had the opportunity
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  - to think about branded experiences,
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  - and brand strategy across that Hyatt portfolio. And,
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  - you know, people talk a lot about, some
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  - of the connections,
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  - between hospitality and health care.
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  - Obviously, vastly different in a lot of ways,
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  - but when you think about what consumers
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  - expect, there's a lot of actually overlap between
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  - those two industries.
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  - I also worked, previously at MSNBC
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  - in,
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  - New York City where I ran their brand
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  - marketing organization,
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  - and then worked for a number of years
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  - at, advertising and marketing agencies
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  - in DC and in,
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  - New York before,
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  - before going in house. So I've had a
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  - great, very eclectic career that brought me to
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  - where I am today. And and, I couldn't
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  - be at, a better place than here at
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  - Henry Ford.
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  - I believe in
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  - I think, you know, what you said of
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  - hospitality,
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  - there's so much overlap between
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  - patient experience and the health care industry.
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  - And I know your role is very expansive,
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  - also incorporating
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  - brand as you said, but also consumer experience.
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  - And that's what I wanna
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  - zone in on first.
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  - We're increasingly
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  - seeing
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  - chief experience officers or folks in that type
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  - of role
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  - start to have ownership over consumer experience
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  - as well. So can you talk more about
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  - how that pertains to you and your role?
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  - How do you think about where patient experience
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  - starts and where consumer experience begins? What's that
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  - overlap look like?
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  - Yeah. I I actually don't see any distinction.
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  - Right? I mean, I I don't think that
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  - there is a line anymore, and I don't
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  - think that
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  - patients and consumers are kind of two distinct
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  - audiences
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  - or two distinct constituencies
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  - or actually see themselves in distinct ways. I
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  - mean,
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  - the reality is patients experience one journey. It's
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  - not really about separate encounters or separate departments.
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  - In their mind,
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  - they never switched,
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  - from one to another. And I'll be very
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  - honest, Mackenzie, and I know that this is
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  - always kind of a hot topic,
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  - in health care, but
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  - I have always advocated for leading with
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  - consumers
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  - as a way of describing those we serve.
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  - And I'll tell you why.
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  - Because I really think it's an empowering term.
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  - You know, when you think about a consumer,
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  - a consumer has choice.
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  - And so referring even to patients as health
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  - care consumers
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  - acknowledges that those that we serve do have
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  - a choice. And it's a choice that's
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  - not just about where they receive care or
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  - from whom they receive care,
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  - but ultimately at the end of the day,
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  - what we sometimes forget is that patients actually
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  - have a choice as to whether or not
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  - they wanna seek care at all. And so
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  - how are we creating
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  - environments and systems
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  - and policies and processes
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  - that,
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  - not only help them find the right care,
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  - but make seeking that care
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  - a positive
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  - experience. And we know that that experience begins
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  - long before someone even,
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  - sees a clinician or shows up at one
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  - of our sites of care.
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  - Mhmm.
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  - I love that there's the empowerment
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  - behind consumer
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  - experience. And I think all of this really
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  - ties into
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  - access to it. You you mean a patient
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  - to get in your doors to give them
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  - that amazing experience and the high quality care,
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  - as well. So I I appreciate you
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  - voicing over your thought process on that terminology.
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  - I know there is some debate on that
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  - in the industry.
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  - But let's zoom in now to what you're
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  - hearing directly from patients
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  - at Henry Ford Health.
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  - Metrics are obviously a huge part of measuring
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  - progress and abate patient experience overall, but I'm
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  - curious. What's something that you hear from patients
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  - that doesn't show up in the dashboard necessarily?
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  - Yeah. I think the biggest thing is what
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  - patients really want is confidence.
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  - And that's hard. Right? I I you know,
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  - there is no,
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  - situation,
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  - I think, that people feel more powerless
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  - in many cases than when they're seeking health
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  - care. Something has happened to them.
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  - Right? It wasn't something that they chose. And
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  - so, you know,
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  - patients come to us or consumers come to
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  - us,
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  - and the power dynamic is already skewed.
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  - Right? They don't have control. They don't have
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  - power. They probably feel like they don't have
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  - the amount of information. And so the number
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  - one thing that they really want and need
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  - throughout the entire journey is confidence.
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  - They wanna know they're on the right path.
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  - They wanna know what happens next.
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  - And, ultimately, what that comes down to is
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  - the number one way in which you've know
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  - you've succeeded is if you've earned their trust.
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  - But, actually, trust is something that we measure
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  - at Henry Ford. You know? So traditional kind
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  - of database experience metrics cover lots of areas,
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  - things like wait times and satisfaction,
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  - access, digital engagement.
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  - But what's really harder to measure and what
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  - doesn't often show up on those dashboards, unfortunately,
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  - is kind of the emotional burden of navigating
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  - health care.
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  - And, you know, for our patients, we know
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  - that that means they want clarity.
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  - They want simplicity.
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  - They want consistency.
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  - Right? They shouldn't they don't want every time
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  - they call to have a different kind of
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  - experience. They have to keep telling you the
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  - same data and information that they already told
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  - you over and over. They want respect.
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  - They went and part of respect is getting
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  - back to them in a timely matter with
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  - clear information that they can understand, and they
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  - really want confidence,
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  - you know, kind of in the next step.
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  - And so what I think often sits underneath
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  - a lot of those,
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  - survey comments
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  - is really a desire to be seen,
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  - a desire to be guided,
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  - and not to be left to figure things
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  - out on their own. But I would say
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  - for us at Henry Ford,
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  - what that really means is how are we
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  - consistently
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  - mapping the journey in such a way that
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  - we're a partner along that journey, getting back
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  - to the empowerment idea.
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  - How are we making sure that we're actively
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  - engaged in the journey
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  - as opposed to being, like, a parent that's
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  - just telling them what to do?
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  - We wanna make sure that they feel empowered
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  - and their their own understanding
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  - and autonomy and awareness about what they're encountering
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  - as they feel true ownership
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  - of that experience as much as we can
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  - create for them.
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  - And that's on us to, like, make the
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  - journey easier to navigate, to remove those friction
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  - points, to anticipate
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  - what the information
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  - or questions are that people have before they
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  - have them.
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  - And so that's really how we see our
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  - work. I mean, it's a shift, I think,
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  - fundamentally to if you're building confidence from looking
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  - at a bunch of encounter strung together to
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  - really thinking about that journey and how are
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  - we walking along,
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  - side by side with them on it.
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  - Is there a specific example of a change
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  - you've made over the past year or two
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  - of a specific
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  - moment or part of that journey where now
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  - we do have a a Henry Ford team
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  - member walking side by side with them more
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  - versus feeling like that parental figure, as you
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  - said?
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  - Yeah. I mean, I think one of the
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  - big areas that we've done a lot of
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  - investment is even about optimizing what we call
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  - our front door. Right? Everybody has a front
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  - door,
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  - and it's, you know, sometimes it's literally the
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  - front door. Someone shows up at the emergency
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  - room. But for most folks, the front door
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  - is really about,
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  - your website,
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  - your contact center,
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  - you know, how are people at to the
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  - point about access being such a barrier for
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  - folks who,
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  - often feel very desperate in those moments, how
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  - are we making sure that access points are
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  - consistent,
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  - in their delivery and information? So whether you
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  - schedule a call digitally
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  - or through a contact center or you're referred
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  - through a clinic,
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  - that it's seamless and what that has forced
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  - us to do is not just optimize
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  - what was we found to be a broken
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  - system, but to actually take it apart
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  - and to redesign how patients access and navigate
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  - care. And so what that mean has meant
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  - is investments in improving technology.
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  - We really have to think about the integration
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  - between technology and operations. So how are the
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  - team members on-site? Really, how are we making
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  - it easier and more consistent in what, how
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  - they're looking at schedules, how they're thinking about
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  - scheduling,
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  - more self-service options. I mean, one of the
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  - things I think
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  - is,
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  - there's a lot of patients
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  - who, come to us and not everybody. Right?
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  - There's still definitely a digital divide, but a
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  - lot of patients who come to us and
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  - are just used to booking their plane tickets
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  - or making their, you know,
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  - making financial decisions online and then they come
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  - to health care and they're stuck and they
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  - really don't wanna talk to a person. They
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  - know what they need. They wanna get to
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  - that care as quickly as possible. So optimizing
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  - self-service and communications through self-service channels
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  - is something that we knew was really important
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  - and empowering for folks,
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  - and then thinking about communication. Right? I mean,
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  - that's the biggest barrier in many cases is
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  - people don't know. We're not communicating at the
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  - right time. And anytime you feel like you
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  - don't have the information to get where you
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  - need to be or to make the right
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  - decision,
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  - it's you're going to feel lost. And so
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  - we really looked at the journey and thought
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  - about what are the pivotal points in which
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  - we have to communicate
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  - instructions or insight or guidance or get information
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  - from the patient to make sure it's utilized
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  - appropriately in care. So we've done a lot
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  - of work in a highly coordinated
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  - way across operations experience technology,
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  - to really think about how our front door
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  - could be different. And it meant taking things
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  - apart and then putting it back together in
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  - a way that's going to make it more
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  - seamless, not just for our patients, but also
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  - for our team members.
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  - That's what I wanna talk about next is
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  - the team members. You know, we've spoken a
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  - lot about a lot of the core elements,
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  - to,
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  - make patients feel confident, trust, trusted with their
• 12:19
  - team members, having consistent care experiences.
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  - But how much of the patient experience
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  - really comes down to employee experience?
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  - Well, I mean, I think team member experience
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  - absolutely a 100% influences patient experience. Right? I
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  - mean, I think there's so much data
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  - to support that.
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  - But culture is really about more than belonging.
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  - And I think we've all talked about a
• 12:43
  - culture belonging. We've been on a culture belonging
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  - journey
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  - here at Henry Ford for quite a while,
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  - and it's really helped, I think, create a
• 12:51
  - very inclusive and welcoming culture here.
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  - But it also has to be about belonging
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  - and excellence.
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  - Right? Patients one of the things I think
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  - is very clear is that patients benefit when
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  - teams feel connected to one another,
• 13:04
  - but they also have to be united around
• 13:06
  - kind of a shared
• 13:07
  - standard of care. And this is a lot
• 13:09
  - of the work that's been done across high
• 13:11
  - reliability,
• 13:12
  - in organizations. And those two kind of cultural
• 13:15
  - touch points between belonging and excellence
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  - really need to go hand in hand.
• 13:21
  - And so what we do is we have,
• 13:23
  - we can have a culture where people really
• 13:25
  - feel valued and respected and included,
• 13:28
  - and it matters because it creates that trust.
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  - That's so important. The collaboration that's critical in
• 13:33
  - care delivery and a high level of engagement.
• 13:36
  - But, I I mean, I think I would
• 13:38
  - go to always take it one step further
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  - to say belonging alone doesn't really guarantee
• 13:43
  - a great patient experience.
• 13:45
  - And that the best culture and the culture
• 13:47
  - that we certainly strive for at Henry Ford
• 13:49
  - combines a really deep sense of belonging with
• 13:51
  - that deep commitment to excellence. And we really
• 13:54
  - want our patients,
• 13:56
  - at the end of the day, to understand
• 13:58
  - and appreciate the collective performance of the organization
• 14:01
  - that grows out of that culture. Right? They
• 14:03
  - really want them,
• 14:05
  - you know,
• 14:06
  - highly connected teams and teams that feel very
• 14:09
  - engaged.
• 14:10
  - It does reflect in how well we communicate.
• 14:12
  - Right? How consistently we deliver, how smoothly we
• 14:15
  - coordinate care.
• 14:17
  - You know, all of those things along the
• 14:19
  - journey, you need those team type teams to
• 14:21
  - be able to help work together, but they
• 14:23
  - all need to be aligned around what the
• 14:25
  - mission is and the desired
• 14:27
  - outcome.
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  - So I think that's really important. You know?
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  - I
• 14:31
  - I am so,
• 14:34
  - such a huge advocate for the work that's
• 14:36
  - been done around culture of belonging,
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  - but I do really still believe at the
• 14:40
  - end of the day that a culture of
• 14:42
  - belonging without that shared also commitment to excellence,
• 14:46
  - you're not you're not realizing the full value
• 14:48
  - of that team member engagement work that's being
• 14:51
  - made.
• 14:52
  - Mhmm. Absolutely. Culture, eat strategy for breakfast. Right?
• 14:56
  - Yeah. For sure. And I mean, again, I
• 14:58
  - think, you know,
• 15:00
  - if you think about it, like, patients don't
• 15:02
  - necessarily
• 15:03
  - it's not a direct correlation that patients will
• 15:05
  - totally benefit from an experiential perspective just because
• 15:09
  - employees like where they work. Right? What where
• 15:11
  - patients benefit is when people are aligned around
• 15:15
  - delivering exceptional care consistently,
• 15:17
  - and you have the unity of the team,
• 15:20
  - behind that effort. Right? So it's it's creating
• 15:23
  - those cultural connections,
• 15:25
  - but to what end? The cultural connection in
• 15:28
  - and of itself and the the high level
• 15:30
  - affinity you may have for your team members
• 15:32
  - is not enough if you're not also all
• 15:34
  - focused on what needs to be done to
• 15:37
  - deliver the outcomes for the patient.
• 15:40
  - Always keeping the patient front and center to
• 15:42
  - Yeah. The the mission that that's driving the
• 15:44
  - culture, of course. Heather. Heather, this has been,
• 15:48
  - such an engaging discussion. I really appreciate you
• 15:51
  - coming on the podcast to share more about
• 15:53
  - the work you're doing around patient and consumer
• 15:56
  - experience at at Henry Ford. So thank you
• 15:58
  - so much. You're welcome, Mackenzie. Thanks so much.
• 16:00
  - It was great chatting with you today.