OPE Quarterly Update Winter 2022
We have updated our quarterly newsletter. The new format will feature more tips and skills for improving the patient experience at every level. We will continue to bring you patient stories and opportunities to collaborate. Please share this email with your teams.
Units within the Office of Patient Experience
Celebrating HOPE & JOY
Last December, the Office of Patient Experience (OPE) presented the 12th annual HOPE and JOY awards. To celebrate safely, the award ceremony was hosted virtually with more than 120 attendees participating.

OPE received 100 nominations for the awards, honoring teams and individuals from across Michigan Medicine who represent the diversity of work and talent within the organization. A HOPE award is given to teams and individuals who champion the principles of patient- and family-centered care at Michigan.
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Keith Gran, chief patient experience officer, opened the awards ceremony recognizing all of the HOPE and JOY award nominees and all of the front-line workers at Michigan Medicine.

“We want to share our gratitude for your perseverance and dedication. Thank you for all you do every day all day for our patients and each other,” said Gran.
Patient Experience Week
April 25-29, 2022
Patient Experience Week celebrates all the people - faculty, staff, learners and volunteers - that make up and impact the patient experience.

MiChart Speaks Spanish!

Interpreter Services has led the effort to make the patient portal accessible to all patients, recognizing the importance of extending equitable care to non-English-speaking populations.

The MyUofMHealth patient portal increases access to personal health information and streamlines patient care, especially to E-visits and Video Visits. Making the patient portal available to Limited-English Proficient (LEP) patients expands this access to previously marginalized populations.

Spanish-speaking patients are one of the largest demographics at Michigan Medicine. As such, Spanish was chosen as the pilot language for this initiative. Most parts of the patient portal have been available in Spanish for over a year. This is thanks to a great collaboration between Interpreter Services -Translation Division, HITS - Virtual Care Team, OPE, Telehealth, MiChart Applications, and physician champions. Once the patient portal is fully developed in Spanish, it will facilitate offering the same level of access to other language groups. Our desire is to offer the patient portal in all our primary languages, although this may be years away as Epic (MiCHART company) does not support many languages that we offer.

The work continues as we make other patient portal features available in Spanish. On January 19, Portal Messages Translation went live. This will allows on-demand translations of messages between clinicians and their Spanish-speaking patients. Our Spanish interpreters/translators team is ready to support this exciting new way to expand language access at Michigan Medicine.



Interpreter Requests for In-patient, ED, and OR

All requests for an in-person interpreter for in-patient, ED, and OR will be made through an order in MiChart (no more phone calls requesting an interpreter).

Orders have been in place for a while, but more people rely on calling to request an interpreter versus placing an Order.

This update will allow the team to effectively track requests and collect data on the demand for these services in these areas.
Plain Language Writing Tips
To ensure safety of patients when they are home and reviewing their directions, all materials for patients should be written clearly and effectively.

Review Do's and Don'ts list before and during the writing process. To ensure your material follows plain language guidelines complete the checklist during the final review of your material.

  • Do organize the information in an order that will make sense to the intended readers: either chronologically or from the general to the specific.
  • Do chunk text into paragraphs. Add headings for your paragraphs - formatted as questions.
  • Do use pronouns: the patient/family is you, clinicians are we. Use I in the question headers.
  • Do use the singular “they/their” instead of “he/she”
  • Do use vertical lists of bullet points or simple tables instead of long narrative sentences.
  • Do use a numbered list if describing steps in a process.

For more Do's and Dont's, check out Patient Education site.
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Leader Perspective
“Patient experience means offering our patients and their families in C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital and Von Voigtlander Women’s Hospital a home away from home. As the number one children’s hospital in the state of Michigan, we provide our Little Victors the absolute best care, and a healing, comforting environment.

When you take care of children, you have to always remember that they are kids! We offer distractions to improve their experience and make their stay with us as fun as possible. For our women’s hospital patients, offering them an experience where they feel valued and listened to is critical to their overall care. Our children’s and women’s teams work incredibly hard to make sure our patients feel a part of our family at Mott and Von Voigtlander.”

Luanne Ewald, Chief Operating Officer for Mott Children's Hospital and Von Voigtlander Women's Hospital
Learning Opportunities with OPE

PX 101: Patient Experience Learning and Development

In one 90 minute session, Patient Experience 101 (PX 101) delivers a comprehensive, engaging learning opportunity to build patient experience knowledge and skill for all faculty, staff, and learners at Michigan Medicine.

After completing this training, the learner will be able to understand the definition of patient experience, how their role impacts patient experience, empathy, and actions they can take to address what matters most to patients and families. They will understand patient experience measurement, describe critical components of service recovery, and discuss how their purpose, values, and strengths impact their contributions to patient experience.

Click here for more information about PX101 (Must have Level 2 login access)

Register for upcoming classes through MLearning.

Upcoming classes

  • January 27, 2 pm - 3:30 pm
  • February 11, 2 pm - 3:30 pm
  • February 22, 12 pm - 1:30 pm
  • March 9, 2 pm - 3:30 pm
  • March 22, 12 pm - 1:30 pm
  • April 5, 2 pm - 3:30 pm

If you are unable to unable to attend these session or sessions are full, there are seven recorded learning modules accessible 24/7 in MLearning. Each module lasts 10-15 minutes.

Beyond Readability Formulas: Writing Clear and Effective Patient-Centered Educational Materials

Materials focuses on plain language guidelines for writing and design. Registration is through MLearning course code: PEHL-10002.

Upcoming classes for 2022
  • March 22
  • May 17
  • July 19
  • September 20
  • November 15.

Patient Education can also conduct classes by invitation to groups of more than 10 people.

This class is also available as an online training module via MLearning. The activity code is UMHS-52601.

For more information, visit Patient Education and Health Literacy.
Patient Perspective: Rachel Kuntzsch
Rachel Kuntzsch, an active mom of two sons, thought she was going to her doctor's office about a bad cold.

She soon found herself rushed to the hospital and diagnosed with heart failure. Rachel shares her story of how within weeks she went from receiving her diagnosis to a new heart at the Frankel Cardiovascular Center in Michigan Medicine.
Working with Patient and Family Advisors
Patient and family advisors are individuals who have experienced the care at Michigan Medicine as a patient and/or family member and are willing to share their experiences, positive and negative, to help us improve the safety, quality, and experience of care in our system. Advisors share their stories, experiences, opinions, and perspectives to help champion initiatives that create more patient-centered programs, operations, services, and research.

Our advisors range in age from teens to seniors, and each has a unique perspective and expertise that helps us continue to improve the care and experience for all patients and families at Michigan Medicine. Learn more on our PX Resource Hub.

How do I get advisors involved in my project/initiative/committee?

You can submit the initial details of your request through our online Advisor Request Form. Once you have submitted the form, a member of our Patient Engagement team will be in touch about the next steps. Have additional questions, or want to refer a patient or family member to become a part of the program? Email patient-experience@med.umich.edu!
Michigan Medicine - Office of Patient Experience