Keeping Patients Happy in the Midst of Emergency Department Chaos (ED Administration and Clinical Operations Committee-Sponsored)

Your emergency department is overwhelmed, and your patient in triage asks about their wait time—again. While patients may not grasp the complexities behind their care, they expect service with a smile. How can operational challenges in a busy ED affect the patient experience, and what actions can department leaders take to alleviate frustration while ensuring satisfaction? This didactic will explore patient-centric interventions linked to high-quality care and patient satisfaction. We will discuss how to redesign ED processes through a systems-design approach, integrating insights from operational experts to help leaders implement best practices in their unique environments.

Learning Objectives:

Upon completion of this session, participants should be able to:
  • Identify common operational hurdles that negatively impact the patient experience
  • Describe the foundational principles of the patient experience and their role in delivery
  • Describe personal, environmental, and systems changes to overcome operational hurdles to delivering a high-quality patient experience
  • Design operational changes or processes with patient experience metrics in mind

Presenters:

  • Justin Bright, MD
  • Michelle Slezak, MD
  • Brittany A. Betham, MD, MBA
  • Mit Patel, MD
  • Mitchell Blenden, MD
  • Benjamin White, MD
Authors

  • Justin Bright, MD

    Henry Ford Hospital

    Dr Bright is an attending physician and assistant medical director for patient experience for Henry Ford emergency medicine in Detroit. He is obsessed with the intersection of patient experience and physician engagement.

  • Michelle Slezak, MD

    Henry Ford Health System

    Completed Emergency Medicine Residency at Henry Ford Hospital in 2008. Staff physician at Henry Ford since that time. Associate Medical Director for Quality 2015-2022 and Medical Director 2022-present.

  • Brittany Betham, MD

    Dr. Betham hails from the great state of Michigan. She attended medical school at the University of Chicago and completed her residency at the University of Cincinnati Residency in Emergency Medicine where she served as Chief Resident from 2016-2017. She currently resides in Detroit, MI and is a Senior Staff Physician in the Emergency Department at Henry Ford Hospital. Her areas of interest include airway management, clinical operations, scheduling, and administration. She is currently pursuing an MBA at the University of Michigan.

  • Mit Patel, MD

    Henry Ford Hospital

    Dr. Patel is a Senior Resident Physician at Henry Ford Hospital, Class of 2025. He plans on pursuing Advanced Emergency Ultrasound Fellowship. At Henry Ford, he initiated research into portable ultrasound devices on resident education, presented work on ED-Initiated Buprenorphine and ED-Based HIV Screening.

  • Mitchell Blenden, MD

    Rams Board/Secretary-Treasurer

    Yale University

    Mitchell Blenden, MD, is the first-year Administration and Operations Fellow at Yale University. He completed his residency at Northwestern University in Chicago. During his residency, Dr. Blenden served as the Secretary/Treasurer for SAEM RAMS and contributed to multiple SAEM committees, including the Administration and Observation Committee, the Workforce Committee, and the Awards Committee. His academic interests include observation medicine, emergency department throughput, and patient satisfaction in the emergency department.

  • Benjamin White, MD

    Mass General Brigham Emergency Medicine

    Benjamin A. White, M.D. is an attending physician at the Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Emergency Medicine, and an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He also serves as the Director of Patient Experience for Mass General Brigham Emergency Medicine, and the Director of the Center for Emergency Medicine Innovation at Mass General Brigham. Ben’s academic and administrative career has focused on improving patient care and experience across the spectrum of the ED visit. His work had included multiple ED operations and systems improvement projects, with an emphasis on clinical innovations that reduce unnecessary waits and waste, increase communication quality and frequency, optimize patient comfort, and improve the overall process of care. He has led multiple grant-funded projects in this capacity, with resultant peer-reviewed publications, and has lectured nationally on these topics at SAEM, AAEM, ACEP, and through multiple invited presentations. Ben cares deeply about making innovative and sustainable improvements in ED patient care, and the humanism and compassion that is integral to a positive patient experience during the ED visit.

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