Blog Entries
Real World Implications of Statistical Concepts, 4: Bias in Self-Surveying
The road to data hell often begins with, “Just run a simple survey to verify compliance.”
Where does PX Fit? Org-Charting the Un-Org-Chart-able, Part 3: My Modest Proposal
Of all the organizational options for PX, what are the best options in my option? Here they are.
Where does PX Fit? Org-Charting the Un-Org-Chart-able, Part 2: Making the Puzzle Pieces Fit
Where organizations put PX will define what PX looks like and what they will spend their time doing. Choose wisely.
Where does PX Fit? Org-Charting the Un-Org-Chart-able, Part 1: System Issues
PX can be marginalized because systems don’t know how to integrate it.
Misunderstanding Math, 2: Idiots, Liars, and Thieves
We need to be smarter, but we also need to hold those who seek to inform us to higher standards.
Misunderstanding Math, 3: Big Numbers, Big Problems
How people process large numbers affects how they process healthcare outcomes and decisions.
Misunderstanding Math, 1: Percentages and Likelihoods
One big gap between clinicians and patients is how they understand and process math. This failure to communicate can lead to suboptimal outcomes.
Acknowledging the Human in Healthcare
We say we are not perfect and don’t expect perfection, even as we seem to demand it in everything.
Understanding Survey Error, 1: Participation Bias
While it feels like everyone loves us or hates us, that is not the reality of survey data.
The Hospital Experience Economy: Part 2, Inside, Looking Out
Too often hospitals fail to use the right language to connect clinicians and staff with service and experience work.
The Hospital Experience Economy: Part 1, Outside, Looking In
In all the talk about providing unique experiences to patients, one should ask if this is what patients really want.
The Myths We Tell Ourselves
While we judge our patients for their misconceptions, we should spare a moment to evaluate our own misconceptions.
Healthcare Horror Show
We can learn about how patients face healthcare by watching horror movies.
Visuals, 1: Word Clouds
Occasional series on how to develop visuals based upon data.
Patient Comments, 2 : Picking the Ripest Patient Comments
Your desire to use patient comments to motivate and inspire starts with picking the right ones.
Two Sides to Every Story: Responding to Doctor Comments
Reviewing physician comments through patient eyes.
Patient Comments, 1 : Importance of Storytelling and Mythology
People often put more stock in patient comments than survey data, but often in the wrong ways.
Attention is currency, 2: Content an Cadence
If you don’t target specific messages in your praise and critique, don’t assume that your team is picking up on the nuance.
Attention is currency, 1: Positivity
Everyone knows that attention is currency, but often people forget that the kind of attention is important.
When the Rational Confronts the Emotional
The key to effective communication is not empathy, but compassion.
Breaking the Vicious Cycle
If you want better communication with your patients, you need to be the change you want.
Search for the Golden Egg, 2: Logic
Connecting patient and employee data contain logical issues the strain the ability to find simple connections.
Search for the Golden Egg, 1: Data
The crossroads between patient and employee satisfaction is a very rocky.
Quotes I Like, 5
Objects in mirror are closer than they appear.
Transactional Surveys Make Bad Things Worse
If transactional relationships are ruining healthcare, then transactional surveying ain’t gonna help.
Real World Implications of Statistical Concepts, 3: Benchmarks
Setting goals against benchmarks is important. Choosing what sort of benchmark is important, but often not fully considered.
How Transactional Relationships in Healthcare are Making Us Miserable
How a change in how we approach enemies, friends and lovers has made healthcare less helpful for patients and satisfying for clinicians.
Real World Implications of Statistical Concepts, 2: Error
Not understanding the omnipresence of statistical error can lead to troubling consequences.
Real World Implications of Statistical Concepts, 1: Significance
On on-going series exploring the intersection of statistics and common understanding to highlight gaps in assumptions and understanding.
My problem with Interval Measures: Mathing the Math, 2
Attempts to create hard measures for soft feelings confuse respondents and deceive themselves.
Staff vs Patients: The Solution
Tips on how to train staff on PX without falling into the same old zero-sum traps.
Staff vs Patients: The Problem
How zero-sum thinking is a key impediment to service excellence.
Threats to Service
Three things that may not seem to challenge the attention that service demands in an organization, but absolutely do.
My Problem with NPS: Mathing the Math, 1
NPS is a popular way to report data and too often it confuses more than it enlightens.
Quotes I Like, 4
Do not remove tag under penalty of law.
Once More with Feeling, Part 2: All the World is a Stage
Leaders need to understand our patient experience vision if they can support our staff to deliver it.
Once More With Feeling, Part 1: How, not What
Succeeding with service requires a slightly different mindset than succeeding with clinical quality or other elements in hospital operations.
Analytical Mise en Place
A list of valuable things to have at the ready, when you embark on any data exploration.
A Resolution on New Year’s Resolutions
How to be successful in personal or professional behavior-change in the new year, or whenever you decide to make a change.
The Donut, Not the Hole
Creating innovative elements in healthcare demand more tenacity than inspiration.
Reports of My Demise…
My first-hand account of what I will refer to as my “spa day.”
Do Demographics Matter? It Depends…
Should we care what a patient’s gender, age, or race is? Well, it’s complicated…
The Problem of Terminal Uniqueness
Why healthcare needs to listen, not for the patients, but for themselves.
To Survey or Not To Survey
Making the survey process the tail and not the dog.
Problem with Pillars, Part 2
Addressing the pet peeve of “a number is a number is a number.”
Problem with Pillars, Part 1
Addressing my pet peeve that “the numbers speak for themselves.”
Quotes I Like, 3
Your mileage may vary.
Why Can’t We be Friends (or at least Frenemies)?
Why Risk and PX mix like oil and water and what we can do about it.
Tale of Two Hotels, Part 2
Amenities are nice, but service starts and ends with staff.
A Tale of Two Hotel Rooms, Part 1
Making people work too hard for something makes a benefit an annoyance.
Motivating the Able not Willing
Managing those who can do the work, but don’t do the work is a special challenge.
Motivating the Willing but not Able
To get people to do what you need them to do, you need to understand why they are not doing what you need them to do.
World’s Worst Decorations, Part 2
More on creating value-adds to data presentations to illuminate and motivate.
World’s Worst Christmas Decorations
Why most dashboards don’t do what you want them to do or get the action you expect.
Quotes I Like, 2
this space for rent
I Don’t Matter
Living in a world where all experiences are equal, but some are more equal than others.
The Letter Versus the Spirit
Motivating staff means understanding how they may view the work versus how you may view the work.
The Brown M&Ms in Healthcare
What Van Halen tells us about patient experience.
Quotes I Like, 1
A randomly reoccurring series of quotes that I find valuable or inspirational.
What is PX?
When definitions are important and, perhaps, more importantly, when they are not…
Blog Entries
What Is In a Name?
A brief explanation of the title, for those who do not mind the gilding of the lily.
A Few Opening Comments aka Prima Res
An introduction to this site and its author.
Some Definitions
An incomplete but running glossary of abbreviations, words and phrases that I will add to or edit as things present themselves.


