Effective chief experience officers need support from CEOs, and other letters

The chief experience officer, a new C-suite role charged with reducing patients' frustration with hospital care (“Quality quarterback,” Dec. 15, p. 27) is a welcome and logical approach for addressing HCAHPS scores and their financial incentives. Placing accountability in a single officer who will identify root causes of patient complaints and ensure their resolution is a model that many institutions will likely adopt as they seek to improve patient experience performance.

At the same time, the article offers subtle caveats about the need for “strong, visible support from the top” that in our eagerness to recruit this new officer, it would be wise to remember. Even the most expert CXO will be unable to achieve true patient-centeredness without a CEO willing to infuse the significance of patient experience throughout the organization, set clear expectations, measure performance in real time and create a hospital or systemwide incentive structure that will change behavior. That includes the will to celebrate the fulfillment of our covenant with patients and the courage to address its violations—no matter where they might occur.

The journey to a patient-centered culture is not only a moral imperative; it is, in fact, a business strategy in which patients and their families become our true customers. As such, they are worthy of the attention of our senior leaders who have authority, as well as the accountability, to change the culture.

Melanie Dreher

After decades of faithfully delivering compassionate healthcare, the Daughters of Charity Health System is teetering on bankruptcy, and our six California hospitals, which are losing $10 million a month, are in danger of closing.

To avert that possibility,the DCHS board of directors launched a nine-month search for a buyer with the experience and financial wherewithal to nurse the hospitals back to health. While a number of parties came forth, only one presented a viable bid to save our hospitals—Prime Healthcare Services. Prime is not only our best business option,

Prime is the only option to keep our hospitals open and successfully serving the communities.

Since the sale was announced, nearly 18,000 signatures have been gathered in support and more are pouring in every day. The California Nurses Association and SEIU Local 121RN embrace this sale. Hundreds of physicians have expressed support and look forward to partnering with Prime Healthcare.

Standing alone in opposition is leadership of the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West and a small group of politicians who are aligned with large labor unions. SEIU-UHW, led by Dave Regan, is fully invested in a corporate campaign against Prime. SEIU's opposition has nothing to do with the merits of our sale and is simply an attempt to force Prime Healthcare into unsustainable concessions. Even Regan knows that Prime Healthcare is the best option for his members and their future.

The truth: Prime Healthcare has a history of rescuing financially distressed hospitals and turning them around while maintaining high-quality care (See Modern Healthcare's Dec. 1 cover story, “Prem Reddy's turnaround strategy,” p. 12).

If this sale is not approved by the state attorney general and the doors to our hospitals close, Dave Regan and his followers might believe they won. But in the end, we all lose.

Robert Issai