Patient Experience: The Power of Small Actions

By Beth Besecker, MD, MBA, chief medical officer, Atrium Medical Center 

As we sharpen our focus on patient experience in 2026, I’ve been reflecting on my own experiences with health care over the past year—both as an advocate for a family member receiving care outside our system and through concerns shared with me in my role as chief medical officer. What stands out most is that these concerns are rarely about clinical expertise. Instead, they often stem from communication gaps and loss of trust due to inaction.

Seemingly small moments can have a big impact. Missed hand hygiene, unclear discharge plans, or delayed orders after a commitment has been made can quickly erode patient trust. Experiencing this firsthand has prompted me to ask: “How can I, as a physician leader at Premier Health, help engage providers in improving the patient experience in meaningful, sustainable ways?”

I began by reviewing evidence-based resources, including NRC patient experience best practices like Communication Frameworks and Commit to Sit. Yet, turning these practices into daily behavior requires more than awareness; it requires focusing on what matters most to both patients and providers.

At the core, patients and providers share the same goal: high-quality outcomes. Beyond safe and reliable care, the literature consistently shows that clear, empathetic communication builds trust, strengthens shared decision-making, and improves follow-up and outcomes. This is especially critical during discharge, where effective communication directly influences patient engagement and readmission rates.

I challenge providers to select three of the tactics below to improve upon during your daily patient interactions, those you feel will have the greatest impact on empathetic communication and building trust with your patients:

• commit to sit, maintain good eye contact, and eliminate distractions (put away the phone)
• introduce yourself, your role, and the purpose of the visit (consider sharing your business card with your patient)
• ensure patients have what they need to communicate effectively (glasses, hearing aids, interpreter services, etc.)
• ask about patients’ goals for the visit and thank them for sharing
• outline the plan of care and anticipated discharge barriers
• ask if there’s anything else you can do before leaving the room
• use clear, plain language and avoid medical jargon
• practice “teach-back” to confirm understanding
• write down key information for patients and caregivers
• perform hand hygiene before and after entering patient rooms
• improve closed loop communication by circling back with patients once you have placed an order previously discussed

I encourage you to share which tactics you have recently tried and how they’ve influenced your patient interactions. Click the survey link to contribute your insights and help shape future provider-to-provider learning in Premier Pulse.

Back to the February 2026 Premier Pulse