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An Epidemic of Empathy in Healthcare: How to Deliver Compassionate, Connected Patient Care That Creates a Competitive Advantage
The best strategies in healthcare begin with empathy
Revolutionary advances in medical knowledge have caused doctors to become so focused on their narrow fields of expertise that they often overlook the simplest fact of all: their patients are suffering. This suffering goes beyond physical pain. It includes the fear, uncertainty, anxiety, confusion, mistrust, and waiting that so often characterize modern healthcare.
One of healthcare s most acclaimed thought leaders, Dr. Thomas H. Lee shows that world-class medical treatment and compassionate care are not mutually exclusive. In An Epidemic of Empathy in Healthcare, he argues that we must have it both ways that combining advanced science with empathic care is the only way to build the health systems our society needs and deserves. Organizing providers so that care is compassionate and coordinated is not only the right thing to do for patients, it also forms the core of strategy in healthcare s competitive new marketplace. It provides business advantages to organizations that strive to reduce human suffering effectively, reliably, and efficiently.
Lee explains how to develop a culture that treats the patient, not the malady, and he provides step-by-step guidance for unleashing an epidemic of empathy by:
Developing a shared understanding of the overarching goal meeting patients needs and reducing their suffering
Making empathic care a social norm rather than the focus of economic incentives
Pinpointing and addressing the most significant causes of patient suffering
Collecting and using data to drive improvement
Healthcare is entering a new era driven by competition on value meeting patients needs as efficiently as possible. Leaders must make the choice either to move forward and build a new culture designed for twenty-first-century medicine or to maintain old models and practices and be left behind.
Lee argues that empathic care resonates with the noblest values of all clinicians. If healthcare organizations can help caregivers live up to these values and focus on alleviating their patients suffering, they hold the key to improving value-based care and driving business success.
Join the compassionate care movement and unleash an epidemic of empathy!
Thomas H. Lee, MD, is Chief Medical Officer of Press Ganey, with more than three decades of experience in healthcare performance improvement as a practicing physician, a leader in provider organizations, researcher, and health policy expert. He is a Professor (Part-time) of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Professor of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard School of Public Health."
Revolutionary advances in medical knowledge have caused doctors to become so focused on their narrow fields of expertise that they often overlook the simplest fact of all: their patients are suffering. This suffering goes beyond physical pain. It includes the fear, uncertainty, anxiety, confusion, mistrust, and waiting that so often characterize modern healthcare.
One of healthcare s most acclaimed thought leaders, Dr. Thomas H. Lee shows that world-class medical treatment and compassionate care are not mutually exclusive. In An Epidemic of Empathy in Healthcare, he argues that we must have it both ways that combining advanced science with empathic care is the only way to build the health systems our society needs and deserves. Organizing providers so that care is compassionate and coordinated is not only the right thing to do for patients, it also forms the core of strategy in healthcare s competitive new marketplace. It provides business advantages to organizations that strive to reduce human suffering effectively, reliably, and efficiently.
Lee explains how to develop a culture that treats the patient, not the malady, and he provides step-by-step guidance for unleashing an epidemic of empathy by:
Developing a shared understanding of the overarching goal meeting patients needs and reducing their suffering
Making empathic care a social norm rather than the focus of economic incentives
Pinpointing and addressing the most significant causes of patient suffering
Collecting and using data to drive improvement
Healthcare is entering a new era driven by competition on value meeting patients needs as efficiently as possible. Leaders must make the choice either to move forward and build a new culture designed for twenty-first-century medicine or to maintain old models and practices and be left behind.
Lee argues that empathic care resonates with the noblest values of all clinicians. If healthcare organizations can help caregivers live up to these values and focus on alleviating their patients suffering, they hold the key to improving value-based care and driving business success.
Join the compassionate care movement and unleash an epidemic of empathy!
Thomas H. Lee, MD, is Chief Medical Officer of Press Ganey, with more than three decades of experience in healthcare performance improvement as a practicing physician, a leader in provider organizations, researcher, and health policy expert. He is a Professor (Part-time) of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Professor of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard School of Public Health."
- GenresNonfictionMedicine
225 pages, Hardcover
First published November 20, 2015
17 people are currently reading
84 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 17, 2015
Before all else, I must thank the publisher (via NetGalley) for granting my request to read this book. But after I finished and began to write a review, the notion struck me that with no formal education or work experience in the health-care industry (unless you count an undergrad degree in psychology more than 30 years ago), for me to comment on anything written by such an accomplished professional as Dr. Lee probably qualifies as the height of chutzpah. So in my defense, I'll offer an explanation.
As a long-time (now retired) journalist, I've written about various facets of the business of health care many times. But more to the point here, for the past 10 years or so I've been a certified volunteer long-term care ombudsman for the state of Ohio, which is in the ongoing process of moving toward "person-centered care" - a relationship-based approach that honors and respects the voice of elders and those working most closely with them. Although this book doesn't address long-term care in particular, the concept of empathy certainly fits with the Buckeye State's efforts to better serve those who are in that system - and I wanted to learn more.
And learn I did. It helps that there's no "healthcare-speak" here; yes, there are many references to studies as well as graphs and several pages of source material, but the "meat" of the book comes through loud and clear. In essence, it outlines the need - and the opportunity - for health-care institutions to rethink their approach to caring for patients. The trend toward specialization has come at the expense of a holistic approach to patients, the author asserts; in fact, the more sophisticated the care, the greater the likelihood that patients will feel they're really not being cared for. Of course, the end result still counts a lot; but the goal shouldn't be simply to save lives, but also to see from the patients' eyes, assure (and reassure) them that the care they're getting is the best possible given their health circumstances and alleviate their suffering - and notably, the latter goes beyond physical pain.
Competition, the author notes, is a major driver in the need to shift the focus to understanding and meeting patients' needs. Patients now can choose their health-care providers, and even the loss of a few patients has the power to make or break a hospital or clinic. But while cost always will be a major factor in patients' decisions of which provider to choose, studies have found that other factors - like the belief that staff members are courteous and really care about them - rank higher in patients' minds than expected bugaboos like the length of wait to see the doctor and ease of getting in and out of the parking lot.
Needless to say, this kind of shift in mind-set and actions isn't easy; running a heath-care facility in just about any setting is a business, complete with the seemingly impossible task of trying to satisfy a number of special-interest groups from patients to all levels of staff to family members to the CFO (if you don't believe that, I invite you to follow a nursing home administrator around for a day or two) . But institutions that offer coordinated and empathic care that elicits trust from patients, the author argues, are better equipped to increase market share and retain good personnel. Several examples of excellence in health-care provider settings that are working are cited here, with explanations of how and why they're successful.
One such institution is the Cleveland Clinic - about which I can speak from personal experience. When my husband needed rather complex cardiac surgery about five years ago, we opted to go there based on its stellar reputation in that field. Both of us were impressed with the facilities, the technology and afterward, the outcome - in our minds, the best possible given the circumstances. Oh yes, and one other thing: The friendly, caring attitude of everyone from the surgical staff to check-in clerks at the intake desks to red-jacketed greeters who stand ready to answer questions. Each time he's returned for routine maintenance since then, we've marveled at how people in such a huge, busy place can make us feel as if we matter. Because of that, we're more than willing to make the hour-and-a-half drive instead of switching to cardiac care closer to home; exactly the point, I believe, that the author is making here: When care is empathic, the sum of the parts really is greater than the whole.
What needs to happen for institutions to make the shift is presented, including ways to measure effectiveness and reward excellence (no surprise to me, but financial incentives isn't the best approach). The author concludes with a 10-step directive, which includes making the meeting of patient needs as efficiently as possible the highest priority, with empathic, coordinated care as a core component. In short, I would recommend this book to anyone who is involved in health care, whether as a professional, a care-giver or someone like me who simply is interested in ways it can be improved.
As a long-time (now retired) journalist, I've written about various facets of the business of health care many times. But more to the point here, for the past 10 years or so I've been a certified volunteer long-term care ombudsman for the state of Ohio, which is in the ongoing process of moving toward "person-centered care" - a relationship-based approach that honors and respects the voice of elders and those working most closely with them. Although this book doesn't address long-term care in particular, the concept of empathy certainly fits with the Buckeye State's efforts to better serve those who are in that system - and I wanted to learn more.
And learn I did. It helps that there's no "healthcare-speak" here; yes, there are many references to studies as well as graphs and several pages of source material, but the "meat" of the book comes through loud and clear. In essence, it outlines the need - and the opportunity - for health-care institutions to rethink their approach to caring for patients. The trend toward specialization has come at the expense of a holistic approach to patients, the author asserts; in fact, the more sophisticated the care, the greater the likelihood that patients will feel they're really not being cared for. Of course, the end result still counts a lot; but the goal shouldn't be simply to save lives, but also to see from the patients' eyes, assure (and reassure) them that the care they're getting is the best possible given their health circumstances and alleviate their suffering - and notably, the latter goes beyond physical pain.
Competition, the author notes, is a major driver in the need to shift the focus to understanding and meeting patients' needs. Patients now can choose their health-care providers, and even the loss of a few patients has the power to make or break a hospital or clinic. But while cost always will be a major factor in patients' decisions of which provider to choose, studies have found that other factors - like the belief that staff members are courteous and really care about them - rank higher in patients' minds than expected bugaboos like the length of wait to see the doctor and ease of getting in and out of the parking lot.
Needless to say, this kind of shift in mind-set and actions isn't easy; running a heath-care facility in just about any setting is a business, complete with the seemingly impossible task of trying to satisfy a number of special-interest groups from patients to all levels of staff to family members to the CFO (if you don't believe that, I invite you to follow a nursing home administrator around for a day or two) . But institutions that offer coordinated and empathic care that elicits trust from patients, the author argues, are better equipped to increase market share and retain good personnel. Several examples of excellence in health-care provider settings that are working are cited here, with explanations of how and why they're successful.
One such institution is the Cleveland Clinic - about which I can speak from personal experience. When my husband needed rather complex cardiac surgery about five years ago, we opted to go there based on its stellar reputation in that field. Both of us were impressed with the facilities, the technology and afterward, the outcome - in our minds, the best possible given the circumstances. Oh yes, and one other thing: The friendly, caring attitude of everyone from the surgical staff to check-in clerks at the intake desks to red-jacketed greeters who stand ready to answer questions. Each time he's returned for routine maintenance since then, we've marveled at how people in such a huge, busy place can make us feel as if we matter. Because of that, we're more than willing to make the hour-and-a-half drive instead of switching to cardiac care closer to home; exactly the point, I believe, that the author is making here: When care is empathic, the sum of the parts really is greater than the whole.
What needs to happen for institutions to make the shift is presented, including ways to measure effectiveness and reward excellence (no surprise to me, but financial incentives isn't the best approach). The author concludes with a 10-step directive, which includes making the meeting of patient needs as efficiently as possible the highest priority, with empathic, coordinated care as a core component. In short, I would recommend this book to anyone who is involved in health care, whether as a professional, a care-giver or someone like me who simply is interested in ways it can be improved.
May 29, 2023
Worth it to read, but no groundbreaking content and contains a lot of common sense or common business principles (such as financial incentives for company goals and aligning business missions - clearly unoriginal corporate commonalities applied to hospitals). The message is noble nonetheless and calls attention to the issue of lack of empathy from physicians in healthcare- especially those in specialties/sub-specialties. I also agree with the main reasons for this lack of empathy in care: teams of providers shift responsibility from the individual clinicians and number of patients per physician.
August 14, 2020
Revolutionary health care delivery
Standards of health care are difficult to qualitize and hard to achieve but after reading this book many puzzles are solved and many problems seem easy and goals achievable
Standards of health care are difficult to qualitize and hard to achieve but after reading this book many puzzles are solved and many problems seem easy and goals achievable
April 10, 2018
Concise discussion of the need for improved empathy in healthcare. Very compelling and depressing.
Want to read
October 28, 2022Diane liu
November 9, 2015
“The best strategies in healthcare begin with empathy.”
An Epidemic of Empathy in Healthcare: How to Deliver Compassionate, Connected Patient Care that Creates a Competitive Advantage by Thomas H. Lee was kind of a mouthful of a book. It attracted me, predictably, because I am serious about empathy in healthcare.
I’ve seen many examples of healthcare where empathy is lacking, and it breaks me. And, as I have progressed in my own career, I have witnessed in myself instances where my ability to empathise has been eroded, too. It’s not an uncommon occurrence for medical students and young doctors to notice how they become hardened during the early years of their clinical training.
The book starts with an elaboration on the importance of empathy – not in a touchy-feely sense, but in the sense that it improves efficacy and patient care.
What I really enjoyed is the amount of evidence-based information regarding empathy in healthcare.
It recognizes the factors that lead to reduced physician empathy – well, it’s empathetic with physicians, which is fairly rare in a world that expects healthcare workers to be without weakness.
I cannot say that it reads easily: the book took me more than a month to read. The chapter on social network media is incredibly well researched but the most difficult to read.
Although this book offered fantastic views on modern healthcare, I think ultimately it was a bit of a let-down for me purely because it was so American-centric. Of course, I knew it would be set in the USA; but the implications are that it is in a setting where healthcare really is a business; and it does not address the fact that in much of the world, it is not. In much of the world, patient retention is not a business imperative.
Additionally, the emphasis of empathy as a means to provide a competitive advantage was harder for me to deal with than I anticipated. I just have not reached that point where I'm comfortable with healthcare as a business.
I would recommend this book for its great insight into empathy as a concept; but beware that it is also partially a book about healthcare as a business. Some of the chapters are invaluable to students in healthcare, psychology and economics; but the book in its entirety is certainly aimed at the physician-businessman and other in healthcare management. If you are in such a sector then this is a must-read.
Disclaimer: I received an eARC from McGraw-Hill Professional and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
An Epidemic of Empathy in Healthcare: How to Deliver Compassionate, Connected Patient Care that Creates a Competitive Advantage by Thomas H. Lee was kind of a mouthful of a book. It attracted me, predictably, because I am serious about empathy in healthcare.
I’ve seen many examples of healthcare where empathy is lacking, and it breaks me. And, as I have progressed in my own career, I have witnessed in myself instances where my ability to empathise has been eroded, too. It’s not an uncommon occurrence for medical students and young doctors to notice how they become hardened during the early years of their clinical training.
The book starts with an elaboration on the importance of empathy – not in a touchy-feely sense, but in the sense that it improves efficacy and patient care.
What I really enjoyed is the amount of evidence-based information regarding empathy in healthcare.
It recognizes the factors that lead to reduced physician empathy – well, it’s empathetic with physicians, which is fairly rare in a world that expects healthcare workers to be without weakness.
I cannot say that it reads easily: the book took me more than a month to read. The chapter on social network media is incredibly well researched but the most difficult to read.
Although this book offered fantastic views on modern healthcare, I think ultimately it was a bit of a let-down for me purely because it was so American-centric. Of course, I knew it would be set in the USA; but the implications are that it is in a setting where healthcare really is a business; and it does not address the fact that in much of the world, it is not. In much of the world, patient retention is not a business imperative.
Additionally, the emphasis of empathy as a means to provide a competitive advantage was harder for me to deal with than I anticipated. I just have not reached that point where I'm comfortable with healthcare as a business.
I would recommend this book for its great insight into empathy as a concept; but beware that it is also partially a book about healthcare as a business. Some of the chapters are invaluable to students in healthcare, psychology and economics; but the book in its entirety is certainly aimed at the physician-businessman and other in healthcare management. If you are in such a sector then this is a must-read.
Disclaimer: I received an eARC from McGraw-Hill Professional and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Read
January 12, 2017Empathic care is more like dancing than running for clinicians
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