Communication the Cleveland Clinic Way: How to Drive a Relationship-Centered Strategy for Exceptional Patient Experience

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

“I Already Know This” and “Patients Know I Care”

Designing a Culture That Is Ready for Communication Skills Training

“Do you teach empathy at Cleveland Clinic?”

These words would forever change our organization. It was 2006 and our CEO, Dr. Toby Cosgrove, had been invited to speak at Harvard Business School. As he finished his comments, a young student named Kara Medoff Barnett raised her hand. She spoke of her father, a physician, who needed a mitral valve surgery and how their family decided where to have his heart surgery done. They were familiar with the excellent cardiac outcomes we had, yet ultimately they decided against Cleveland Clinic for his care “because we heard you had no empathy.”

Reflecting ...