The Cleveland Clinic: Improving the Patient Experience (Abridged)

Abstract

Healthcare has traditionally focused on medical outcomes and financial performance. The big question is always, "How much is it going to cost?" What would happen though if healthcare also considered the question of "How does the patient feel?" This case looks at the Cleveland Clinic's attempt to answer the latter question by attempting to institutionalize empathy as part of its delivery of care.

Learning Objective: To illustrate the importance and role of blending empathy is healthcare delivery and more generally operations.