Engage in this powerful and inspirational session with Professor of Music, Mimi Rabson, one of Boston’s most creative and versatile musicians. She is known for teaching improvisation to classical musicians invites healthcare professionals to reimagine their roles through the lens of creative flexibility. Weaving live musical performance with storytelling, she draws on her personal experiences as a patient-family-caregiver to illuminate the parallels between improvisational music and the human experience of health and care. Just as musicians must listen, adapt, and respond in real time, so too must care teams navigate uncertainty with empathy, presence, and creativity. This session will inspire attendees to embrace improvisational thinking as a powerful approach to orchestrating more compassionate, responsive, and human-centered experiences in healthcare.

What Matters to You  is an international person-centered care movement inspired by a 2012 New England Journal of Medicine article, Shared Decision-Making: The Pinnacle of Patient-Centered Care, written by Michael Barry and Susan Edgman-Levitan. The underlying principle, “Ask, listen, do” what matters is intended to shift the power to the person who knows best about the help or support they need, whether it be a person with a medical issue or the clinicians or staff providing care. WMTY conversations help healthcare teams understand what is “most important” to patients, leading to better care partnerships and improved patient experience. This panel will discuss the evolution of the practice and offer practical strategies for integrating into existing interactions between people who are patients and their people serving as care team members.

• Describe the history of “What Matters to You,” a global movement inspired by a NEJM article published by Susan and colleague Michael Barry in 2012
• Understand the evidence supporting the adoption of this practice and the impact it has with people when they are patients, as well as clinical and clinical support team members
• Be equipped to incorporate these person-centered practices into their daily work immediately following the session

As a unique element of the symposium, delegates will engage in interactive roundtable discussions in response to the opening session. A “PX Host” will guide each roundtable group to enable meaningful exchanges. Attendees will form connections, exchange ideas, and share goals for attending the symposium

1:10 pm – 1:40 pm

High Reliability in Action

How Cambridge Health Alliance Transformed Employee Engagement & Patient Experience

This session will explore a two-year journey to becoming a High Reliability Organization (HRO) at Cambridge Health Alliance, offering a proven framework for building a culture of safety and reliability in healthcare. It will address key high-reliability behaviors that enhance patient safety, strategies for assessing and mitigating emotional harm, and approaches to improving patient experience through high-reliability principles. Attendees will gain insights into measurable improvements in employee engagement and patient experience, along with strategies for sustaining long-term success. Designed for healthcare professionals seeking to reduce harm and strengthen team engagement, this session provides practical steps for integrating high-reliability practices to create safer, more effective care environments.

• Build a Culture of Safety and Excellence – Learn a proven framework for driving high reliability in healthcare
• Enhance Patient Experience with High Reliability Behaviors – discover actionable strategies to reduce harm, improve communication, and foster a more positive, patient-centered environment
• Access practical tools and techniques to strengthen employee engagement and promote meaningful engagement patient connections and drive lasting improvements in care quality

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1:45 pm – 2:15 pm

Enhancing the Patient Experience

Integrating Interprofessional Collaboration to Support Food Security

Each department within a healthcare system contributes a distinct perspective to the patient experience. In this panel, leaders from case management, health equity, interprofessional collaboration, patient advocacy, and quality share how they moved beyond siloed efforts to create a hospital-based food pantry. By recognizing the shared rhythm of health-related social needs, this team orchestrated a more connected, compassionate response to food insecurity. Attendees will explore how embracing a systems perspective and partnering with community organizations can transform fragmented initiatives into cohesive solutions that improve outcomes and equity across the care continuum.

• Describe how health-related social needs, such as food insecurity, impact patient experience outcomes
• Identify strategies to integrate traditionally siloed departments, such as case management, quality, equity, and advocacy, into cohesive, collaborative systems
• Illustrate the role of interprofessional collaboration and external partnerships in co-producing equitable, patient-centered care solutions
• Apply the principles of systems thinking to design sustainable responses to social determinants of health

1:10 pm – 1:40 pm

Building Trust in Primary Care

Insights from Black Patients and Care Teams

Healthcare mistrust is a barrier to health equity among Black communities. Since 2021, MHQP’s statewide Patient Experience Survey has shown that Black adults report lower trust in primary care than White adults. Funded by PCORI, this project engaged Black patients and primary care team members through focus groups and a multi-stakeholder convening to co-develop priorities for future patient-centered research. Participants identified systemic and interpersonal drivers of mistrust and prioritized strategies including compassionate communication, shared decision-making, patient agency, and equitable care. This work reflects MHQP’s commitment to improving patient experience and offers insights to strengthen relationships and build trust in care.

• Explain how MHQP used statewide patient experience survey data to identify racial disparities in trust and inform the development of this project
• Describe key facilitators and barriers contributing to mistrust among Black patients in primary care settings
• Describe community-prioritized strategies to reduce mistrust, including compassionate communication, shared decision-making, and equitable care delivery

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1:45 pm – 2:15 pm

Hear Me, See Me, Heal Me

Focus on Human Experience & Dignity for All Patients

Learn how a large faith-based health system leaned into its catholic identity to address the low number of minority patients in patient experience surveys. SSM Health collaborates with the ED and Inpatient Services. Physician and Nurse teams were educated on key tactics, including the 6H model of human connection (created by Swati Mehta), unconscious bias training, and more, which helped elevate the dignity in our patients. We aimed to enhance patient experience and health equity. We saw Survey Response rates and PX scores improve after focused frontline education to meet the needs of our minority patients.

• Understand how a large faith-based health system integrated its Catholic identity to advance health equity and elevate the dignity of minority patients through improved listening and engagement strategies
• Explore practical tools and training approaches, including the 6H Model of Human Connection, unconscious bias training, and the C.O.R.E. tool—that support a culture of inclusion, belonging, and respect across diverse patient populations
• Evaluate the impact of interdisciplinary collaboration and frontline education on improving patient experience (PX) survey response rates and outcomes among underrepresented communities

Step into a dynamic and intimate learning experience where powerful ideas meet personal connection. In this highly interactive session, influential executive-level leaders deliver focused micro-presentations on compelling topics that matter to today’s healthcare landscape.

Rather than sitting through a traditional panel or presentation, you’ll move through three(3) 15-minute rounds in small, rotating groups. Select the 3 topics that interest you the most. Each round includes an 8-minute presentation followed by an 8-minute interactive discussion between the micro-presenter and the small group audience. This unique format gives you the opportunity to ask questions, exchange ideas, and engage directly with presenters in a more personal setting.

This is your chance to absorb high-impact insights, make meaningful connections, and leave with fresh perspectives—one conversation at a time.

Session Details

Leading the Way in Patient Experience

Listening, Learning, and Driving Transformation

Explore how patient-focused transformation begins by listening intentionally, learning organizationally, and acting decisively. This session shares practical insights for moving beyond the metrics and elevating patient experience by guiding health systems to respond to what matters most. Learn how individual stories and system-wide change intersect to create a culture of compassion, accountability, and innovation.

• Identify key strategies to integrate patient voice into organizational decision-making
• Understand how listening and learning can drive sustainable improvements in patient experience
• Apply the concept of patient-focused transformation to lead change that is inclusive, innovative, and impactful

Beyond the Bedside

How Environmental Sustainability Shapes Health, Experience, and Community Well-Being

While patients may arrive focused on their immediate health needs, many recognize that personal well-being is deeply connected to the health of their environment and community. Gundersen Health System became a national model by embedding environmental sustainability into its operations, not as an add-on, but as a strategic driver of better outcomes. The organization improved health outcomes, cut costs, and revitalized the local economy through disciplined efforts to reduce energy use, invest locally, and eliminate waste.

• Illuminate the connection between environmental health and patient well-being
• Offer compelling data on how sustainability efforts can reduce healthcare costs and spur local economic growth
• Share a pathway for health systems to take climate-conscious action while enhancing patient and community experience

Micro-Presentation Rounds: Connecting with Executive Leaders

Step into a dynamic and intimate learning experience where powerful ideas meet personal connection. In this highly interactive session, influential executive-level leaders deliver focused micro-presentations on compelling topics that matter to today’s healthcare landscape.

Rather than sitting through a traditional panel or presentation, you’ll move through three(3) 15-minute rounds in small, rotating groups. Select the 3 topics that interest you the most. Each round includes an 8-minute presentation followed by an 8-minute interactive discussion between the micro-presenter and the small group audience. This unique format gives you the opportunity to ask questions, exchange ideas, and engage directly with presenters in a more personal setting.

This is your chance to absorb high-impact insights, make meaningful connections, and leave with fresh perspectives—one conversation at a time.

Patient narratives – feedback from patients collected through structured open-ended survey questions – can provide useful insights for identifying improvement opportunities as well as potential solutions. This panel will discuss practical strategies for integrating patient narratives and survey data to motivate and inspire health care leaders, clinicians, and staff to enact needed changes that can lead to improvements in patient experience survey scores and clinician and staff well-being.

• Describe how patient narratives can complement closed-ended survey data by providing value-added insights not otherwise captured by patient experience surveys
• Identify specific ways that narratives can be used as a tool for motivating and guiding quality improvement work in both inpatient and ambulatory care settings
• Provide evidence that frequent sharing of useful patient narrative information with clinicians and staff can lead to better patient experience survey scores and reduced levels of reported burnout

Discover how Mount Sinai Health System has embedded the Human Experience into its organizational culture through strategic leadership and interdisciplinary collaboration. Learn how a system-wide focus on supporting employees enables them to bring their best selves to work—delivering exceptional care and service to patients, families, and one another.  In today’s evolving healthcare landscape, caring for the workforce is essential to delivering safe, high-quality, and compassionate care. Mount Sinai’s Chief Medical Officer and Chief Human Resources Officer have partnered to ensure that staff have the resources, support, and environment needed to thrive.  During a time of financial austerity, C-suite leaders have prioritized listening to the front line. The “Your Voice Counts” engagement survey, deployed every 18 months, transforms workforce feedback into actionable insights that drive system- and department-level decisions, ensuring that every voice contributes to shaping the future of care.

• Understand how strategic leadership and collaboration align with employee engagement, patient experience, and safety
• Learn how to turn workforce survey data into actionable initiatives that improve safety, recognition, and outcomes
• Explore practical ways to embed health equity into organizational culture and leadership decision-making

Unwind after a full day of sessions with fellow conference delegates at this informal evening gathering. Enjoy a cocktail, continue the day’s conversations, and make plans for dinner with new connections. This relaxed setting offers the perfect opportunity to build relationships, share ideas, and connect with peers in a casual, friendly atmosphere.