A seamless, high-quality, holistic experience is essential to patient satisfaction. The DMC plan strives to enhance the patient experience by providing a sense of welcome, facilitating the journey of patients and visitors during their visit, creating spaces and activities for patients to unwind between clinical appointments, and engaging visitors and community members alike in healthy living.
At the Oct. 29, 2015 DMCC board meeting, Jeff Bolton, Lisa Clarke, Heidi Mestad, and Dr. Sandhya Pruthi presented on how DMC is key to the patient experience and ultimately the community experience.
“DMC is a unique opportunity where we have the state, county, and city, along with a variety of community organizations, working together to achieve a shared vision,” said Heidi Mestad, DMC manager, involved in community engagement. “The desired outcome is to provide an unparalleled patient experience as measured by patient satisfaction.”
Studies by DMC and Mayo Clinic have identified gaps related to patient satisfaction. Specifically, they found that patients are highly satisfied with their journey involving Mayo Clinic, but they are not as highly pleased with the experiences they have in the broader community.
“This gap reflects an opportunity to improve collaborative efforts between the community and the clinic,” Mestad said, “and ultimately expand the activities and offerings in Rochester for patients and community members alike to ensure that the quality of experience for everyone is seamless.”
DMC’s eight areas of focus (livable city, commercial research and technology, health and wellness, learning environment, arts culture and entertainment, transportation, sports rec and nature, and hospital and convention) address these gaps. They specifically target the desire for a more authentic community experience, increased diversity in dining and shopping options, more high-quality hotels, a richer environment for arts, culture, museums, and family entertainment, and more space focused on health, wellness, preventive care, nutrition, and fitness.
With approximately 3,000 patients and companions visiting Rochester’s Mayo Clinic campus on any given day, the value of providing the highest quality patient experience is vital to achieving the DMC vision and making Rochester “America’s City for Health.”