Patients’ Narratives as a Catalyst for Reducing Staff Burnout in Ambulatory Care - IHPS Health Policy Grand Rounds

" Many in the healthcare workforce are burning out and becoming dissatisfied with their jobs, which was true even before COVID-19 exacerbated demands on workers. Our research assesses the role that feedback from patients about their care experiences in their own words (termed “patient narratives”) plays in the well-being of healthcare professionals who care for them. Our core hypothesis – building from organizational theory that links worker experience to customer experience and vice versa – was that frequent and useful feedback from patients in their own words is associated with reduced burnout and increased job satisfaction for healthcare professionals, which would suggest the importance of providing such feedback to them as an intervention. We tested our hypothesis using survey data from clinical and administrative staff affiliated with 22 ambulatory care practices associated with NewYork-Presbyterian. In this setting, we found support for our hypothesis and explanations for the correlation. This presentation will conclude with discussion of the implications of these findings for health policy and practice."

Ingrid M. Nembhard, Ph.D., M.S., is the Fishman Family President’s Distinguished Professor, Professor of Health Care Management at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Her research focuses on how characteristics of health care organizations, their leaders, and staff contribute to their ability to implement new practices, engage in continuous organizational learning, and ultimately improve quality of care. She uses qualitative and quantitative research methods to examine health care delivery from provider and patient perspectives, and to evaluate organizational performance. Her research has provided and continues to provide insights about how health care leaders manage change, teamwork within and across organizations, strategies for improving the patient experience, and organizational efforts to learn new clinical and operational practices. She brings her training in organizational behavior, organizational theory, and health services research to all of her projects. She is the recipient of the 2023 Mid-Career Achievement Award from the Academy of Management’s Health Care Management Division. Prior to joining the faculty at the The Wharton School, she was the Ira V. Hiscock Tenured Associate Professor at the Yale School of Public Health, Associate Professor at Yale School of Management, and Associate Director of the Health Care Management Program at Yale. Dr. Nembhard received her Ph.D. in Health Policy and Management, with a concentration in Organizational Behavior from Harvard University through a joint program between Harvard Business School and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. She received her M.S. in Health Policy and Management from Harvard University School of Public Health, and her B.A. in Ethics, Politics and Economics and in Psychology from Yale University.