Gwinnett Medical Center

The shift: improve patient experience during expansion, by decomposing into influenceable measures

Execution challenge
A major building expansion (“North Tower”) created huge distraction. Leadership wanted to avoid “moving old baggage into a new building.” They also recognized that patient experience is driven by many non-clinical interactions.

Organizational lag measure (WIG / outcome)

Patient satisfaction percentile (noted as extremely low in outpatient and improving dramatically)
They frame “patient experience” broadly—how people are treated, respected, cared for.

Department-level decomposition (lag → lead)

Example A: Food Service

Department lag measure

Patient satisfaction with food temperature/quality at delivery (they reference moving from ~30th percentile to ~60th percentile, continuing upward).

Lead measures (explicit in transcript)

Temperature checks at three points:
1. in kitchen, 2) leaving kitchen, 3) arriving in room
  → this identified the true failure point (arrival).
Fix the constraint: warming equipment wasn’t holding heat (insight enabled by the lead measure).
“10/10 rule”: depart kitchen with 10 trays or within 10 minutes (whichever comes first).
They report ~99% compliance.

Example B: Women’s Services

Department lag measure

Improve patient survey response to “met my emotional needs” from ~10th percentile to ~30th percentile (and later they describe major percentile gains).

Lead measures (explicit behaviors)

Ensure mom has info to care for baby
Ensure mom has info to care for herself
Ask: “Any worries/concerns before you leave?”
Basic but powerful courtesy behaviors: look up, greet, introduce, invite questions

What happened along the way:
They moved through phases in weekly commitments: follow-through → problem solving → recognition. A “culture when we’re not around” theme shows up strongly.

Ancillary benefits
They describe cultural transformation, team feel, and sustaining higher performance beyond the initial lift.