Prioritizing patient experience

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again (and again): At Carrum Health, our members are our number one priority.

It’s absolutely paramount that each one has a superior patient experience—not only because we genuinely care about them as human beings, but also because patient experience is “an integral component of healthcare quality,” according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

The AHRQ stipulates that patient experience includes aspects such as care coordination, communication, courtesy and respect, shared decision-making, culturally appropriate experience, and more.

Our team puts a lot of time and effort into ensuring the centers of excellence (COE) we include in our high-value network provide the best patient experience possible. When we evaluate current and potential COE partners—including site visits during which we actually walk the halls of the facilities—we look closely at many different facets of the patient experience, including the ones put forth by the AHRQ.

So it’s no surprise that we were thrilled to hear some great feedback from one of our members, David.

An exceptional patient experience: David’s back surgery

By the time David reached out to Carrum for help, he had needed spine surgery for more than a year. In addition to being in a world of pain, he was also incredibly frustrated. His typical surgeon was not prioritizing David or his needs. David felt ignored, unheard, and left behind—so much so that he even called his congressman to complain about the healthcare system.

David had received an email from Carrum—a benefit provided by his wife Celia’s employer, whose health plan David is on—and, fortunately, he’d taken the time to read it. Fed up with his surgeon, he decided to give Carrum a call. He was connected with one of Carrum’s amazing patient care specialists, Naquesha, who helped him register for the portal and confirmed his eligibility. David decided to get his back surgery at Mayo Clinic Jacksonville, one of our high-quality COE partners.

David was so impressed by and happy with his experience with Carrum and Mayo Clinic that he wrote a letter about it and asked his wife to distribute it to her colleagues so they knew they had Carrum available to them as well.

We received a copy of the email as well and have included a few sections of it in this post.

How David felt about his back surgery experience at Mayo Clinic

David’s advice to his wife’s colleagues

Why David wrote this email to them

In addition, we spoke to David directly, and when we asked him what he would say to Naquesha, he replied with…

“I would just squeeze her as tight as I can and cry. Words really can’t express how thankful I am. Thank you for not ignoring me. Thank you for treating me like a human being. Thank you for caring how I felt and actually caring instead of just saying you care. Thank you.”

This is the patient experience we want all of our Carrum members to have—one that is so positive from beginning to end that members want to shout about it. We are so happy we were able to help David, and that now more of Celia’s colleagues know that we’re here to help them as well. In the letter, David shared:

Thank you, David!

Learn more about how Carrum can help your employees and their families have a superior patient experience.

The information contained on this page is for informational purposes only. No material is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.