In 2011, the BirthPlace at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital–Plymouth (BID-Plymouth), in Massachusetts, was losing patients to other maternity units, and the hospital considered closing it. Instead, we decided to rebrand the BirthPlace and our outpatient OB/GYN and Midwifery practices with a focus on improving the patient experience.

We determined that we could impact patient experience best by working cross-functionally—aligning the marketing, clinical and IT teams—and implementing digital health tools that supported the new brand by improving patient-provider communication and increasing patient satisfaction.

We were right! Here’s how our hospital did it and what we learned.

Improving the patient experience with rehabilitation and recovery after joint surgery counts big in CMS’s new Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) payment model. So it behooves hospitals to manage patient expectations about their discharge destination and rehab care as early in the care episode as possible.

This week, CMS released its final rule for Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR), putting 790 hospitals on notice that hip and knee replacement reimbursements from the nation’s largest insurer will be tied to cost containment and high standards for patient care. 

Setting expectations early is shown to improve patients' episodes of care, improve patient outcomes and reduce readmission rates. It also prepares your hospital for Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) initiatives like Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR).