Center for Patient Experience: Pioneer of Care Beyond Medical Outcomes

Pasig City—At a time when people expect customer service to be increasingly seamless and the virtue of service is inextricable from delivery of care, patient experience management has become integral to effective leadership and quality measurement in healthcare.

This management is the core of The Medical City’s Center for Patient Experience (CPE), initially formed as the Customer Relations Department of the hospital, and now revamped as the center responsible for developing and implementing systems for patient interactions and engagement throughout their experience of healthcare delivery.

The CPE shifts the management of patient and customer service functions from a traditionally supportive role to a strategic, operational, and culture-shaping role throughout all facets of TMC in order to achieve “a brand of care beyond medical outcomes.”

Roxannie C. Alejo leads the center, based in TMC Ortigas, in creating a long-lasting experience by offering patient-centric and sustainable value-added services to all market segment patients.

CPE continues to be an essential component of the TMC’s goal of being patient partners through functions such as customer service, reception and information, out-patient and in-patient engagement, and most notably, the Red Coat Ambassadors program.

Launched as a movement in 2019 across the TMC Enterprise, the Red Coat Ambassadors are specially trained staff and TMC retirees-turned-volun- teers who assist patients and guests with navigation, information, and non-me- dical care. Stationed at vantage points and main diagnostic units, they directly impact the environment of care at TMC by giving patients and guests a personal, positive experience when it matters most.

“The Red Coat Movement is more than just a customer service project. When you see that Red Coat, you should be reminded that, hey, there’s another human being ready to connect,” says Dr. Eugenio Jose F. Ramos, President and Group CEO of The Medical City.

After pioneering the program for four years and evolving throughout the rise and plateau of the pandemic, the Red Coat Movement is set to be part of the Center for Patient Experience’s Unified Training Program for both TMC medical and non-medical professionals alike. The center works with both TMC’s Department for Advanced Medical Education (DepAMed) and Human Capital Management Group to make sure the patient experience modules are implemented consistently during onboarding and further training.

In addition, the Center for Patient Experience also manages key facilities and channels such as The Medical City Hostel, an in-hospital facility equipped with rooms and other amenities catering to patients’ relatives, traveling guests, and international patients; patient experience applications such as the digital magazine rack, inpatient services application, and LINK referral channel; patient loyalty programs; telecommunications and online chat resolution; and patient satisfaction data gathering and reporting.

TMC Chief Operating Officer Atty. Martin P. Samson, TMC President and Group CEO Eugenio F. Ramos and Center for Patient Experience Roxannie C. Alejo unveil the logo of CPE during the first-ever Red Coat Summit held in Iloilo City. JIRO F. EMELIO

Red Coat Ambassadors hold first enterprise-wide summit in Iloilo

Iloilo City—On May 25 and 26, TMC Iloilo hosted the first Enterprise Red Coat Summit which gathered all the Red Coat Ambassadors from all TMC hospitals, namely TMC Ortigas, TMC South Luzon, TMC Pan- gasinan, TMC Clark, and TMC Iloilo.

Red Coat Ambassadors is a unique program pioneered by The Medical City emphasizing human connection, empathy, and compassion, a culture that complements the state-of-the-art equipment and medical expertise that TMC is known for.

Entitled “Back to the Core,” the two-day summit was highlighted by a sharing of best practices, experiences, and future plans. There was also capacity-building through a series of talks and workshops.

The summit opened with a warm Ilonggo welcome with a festive Dinagyang performance and an address by TMC Iloilo President and CEO Dr. Felix R. Villa. It was then followed by a workshop on “Strengthening Empathy” led by Dr. Jannel Cleto of TMC’s Department of Psychiatry and a series of presentations of the various hospitals on their Red Coat initiatives, leading to an exchange of ideas through a panel question-and-answer session.

Day 2 of the summit began with a talk of Terry Grundy, Managing Partner of Grundy & Associates and an experienced coach and trainer on customer experience and quality improvement. Mr. Grundy spoke about “Rebuilding Patient Trust Post-COVID,” noting that the decline in patient trust caused by the pandemic may be regained by adequately addressing “care needs” instead of simply offering customer service.

Mr. Grundy’s talk was followed by TMC Main Red Coat Ambassador Maris Lopeña who led a workshop on “Everyday Mindfulness.”

The summit concluded with messages from TMC Chief Operating Officer Atty. Martin Samson and TMC President and Group CEO Dr. Eugene F. Ramos, who both highlighted the importance of human connection, empathy, and being always in the present when dealing with TMC’s patient-partners.

In his remarks, Dr. Ramos emphasized that the Red Coat Movement goes beyond customer service; it in fact answers the dire need for human connection in today’s world.

“What we are up to in the Red Coat Movement is to make you become more and more human, that you can connect to other people. The future of the Red Coat Movement is as wide as you can imagine it because it’s about human connection. We address some of the pressing problems of this world—isolation and the inability of people to connect to another human being.” he said.

“This is not just about the Red Coat Movement; this is about the change that we would like to achieve for The Medical City. We understand humanity and we understand that we can make a lot of difference in other people’s lives.”

For more information or to reach the Center for Patient Experience, please contact 8988-1000 local 6167 or 6168.