In this episode of Key In to Quality, a multidisciplinary Mayo Clinic team discusses how improving the patient experience can strengthen the quality of surgical care. The conversation explores how viewing the surgical journey through the eyes of patients and families is helping identify opportunities to improve communication, preparation, predictability and support before, during and after surgery.

Drawing on patient interviews, observations, survey data and staff insights, the team identified consistent themes that led to practical improvements across the surgical experience. These include personalized pre-surgery videos, streamlined pre-registration, enhanced waiting room support and new approaches to keeping patients and families informed throughout their care.

The episode also highlights the importance of collaboration among physicians, nurses and operational teams to improve every touchpoint of the patient journey. Timely, transparent communication helps reduce uncertainty, build trust and improve the overall patient experience.

Listeners will learn how Mayo Clinic is using patient feedback, operational data and continuous quality improvement principles to enhance surgical care and ensure improvements remain effective as patient needs and services continue to evolve.

Guests:

Dr. Sarah Dodd | LinkedIn

Andrea Nelson | LinkedIn

Kayla Simiele | LinkedIn

#PatientExperience #HealthcareQuality #MayoClinic #QualityImprovement #PatientCenteredCare

Host: Timothy Morgenthaler, M.D. | https://www.linkedin.com/in/timorgenthaler/

Host: Sheri Nemec| https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheryl-sheri-nemec-a627982a/

#mayokeyintoquality

This episode of Key in to Quality communication as an important driver of healthcare quality and examines whether communication skills can be strengthened through coaching and training. A Mayo Clinic pilot study compared individualized communication coaching, a communication skills class and usual practice to understand the potential impact on patient experience.

The study found encouraging trends. Clinicians who received individualized coaching achieved higher overall patient experience scores, while both the coaching and communication-class groups improved on nine of 10 patient experience measures. Although the small sample size limited statistical significance, the findings point to opportunities for further study and suggest that intentional communication development may benefit both patients and clinicians.

The discussion also highlights practical considerations for healthcare organizations, including partnering with communication experts, securing leadership support, designing interventions that fit clinician workflows and starting with small pilot programs. The episode reinforces that communication is a learnable skill and a core component of quality care, with the potential to strengthen trust, connection and the overall patient experience.

Host: Timothy Morgenthaler, M.D. | https://www.linkedin.com/in/timorgenthaler/

Host: Sheri Nemec| https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheryl-sheri-nemec-a627982a/

#mayokeyintoquality

Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) can occur even when medications are prescribed and administered correctly, yet reporting has historically varied across Mayo Clinic campuses, limiting opportunities to identify enterprise-wide trends and improve patient safety. In this episode of Key in to Quality, a multidisciplinary team representing pharmacy, nursing, patient safety, quality, analytics and regional stakeholders shares how they developed a standardized, enterprise-wide approach to ADR reporting and evaluation.

After reviewing existing safety processes, FDA MedWatch standards and frontline feedback, the team created a five-level ADR severity scale focused on patient outcomes rather than medication errors. The scale was integrated into Mayo Clinic's electronic patient safety reporting system and paired with enterprise dashboards that enable standardized reporting, trend analysis and organizational learning.

Since implementation, the framework has improved reporting consistency, strengthened FDA reporting and enhanced the ability to identify system-level safety opportunities. Validation showed users applied the scale with more than 85% agreement compared with expert review, demonstrating how standardized reporting, multidisciplinary collaboration and enterprise data can transform individual adverse drug reactions into actionable insights that improve medication safety across the organization.

Host: Timothy Morgenthaler, M.D. | https://www.linkedin.com/in/timorgenthaler/

Host: Sheri Nemec| https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheryl-sheri-nemec-a627982a/

#mayokeyintoquality