Vocera's Experience Innovation Network Releases Its Annual CXO Research Report

Results show the CXO is not a traditional executive role and highlights work left to be done

San Jose, CA (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) - Vocera Communications, Inc. (NYSE:VCRA), the leading healthcare communications company, today announced that its Experience Innovation Network has released its second annual Chief Experience Officer (CXO) Report, “The Rise of the Healthcare Chief Experience Officer.”  

Vocera's Experience Innovation Network is an international group of industry thought leaders focused on putting the science behind the experience of care and discovering innovative solutions that meet the Quadruple Aim of improving population health, elevating patient-centered care, and reducing costs while restoring joy back to the practice of medicine.

In 2015, the Experience Innovation Network published the first study focused on the evolving role of the CXO in healthcare. The report established a benchmark for the industry, revealing priorities, resources, and responsibilities of these emerging change agents. For the 2016 research report, more than 100 leaders from in-patient and out-patient organizations across the United States and Canada once again provided insight about the role of leading experience transformation and shared insights on operational infrastructure, patient and staff engagement practices, improvement strategies, and human-centered technologies.

“As the work to improve experience matures, healthcare leaders are facing new challenges and priorities as they strive to disrupt the status quo and redefine care delivery,” said Liz Boehm, director of the Experience Innovation Network. “Chief Experience Officers are expanding their scope in recognition of the links between delivering exceptional clinical quality, delivering care in an environment of empathy and respect, and engaging patients as true partners in all improvement projects.”

Nearly 40 percent of CXOs report directly to the chief executive officer or their health system president, while 28 percent report to a clinical executive in quality, medicine or nursing. More women than men are leading healthcare experience work, according to the report, and the median number of staff members reporting to these leaders has nearly doubled since last year’s survey. On average, experience leaders have 20 people reporting to them. However, 13 percent said they have no direct reports, leaving them dependent on other teams’ resources to accomplish experience goals.

While the most extensive work on experience improvement centers around clinical interactions that patients and families have with doctors and the care team, only 12 percent of experience leaders have a medical degree. Nearly two-thirds of CXOs in the research viewed physicians as passive or obstructive to experience work, and only 4 percent of respondents said physicians at their organizations are active leaders of experience improvement efforts.

“It is important for CEOs to elevate experience improvement as the top strategic priority for their organizations, engage physicians in the work, and support CXOs as they tirelessly lead this work. Only by driving meaningful human-to-human connections across the entire continuum of care will healthcare systems succeed in long-term differentiation, loyalty and growth,” said Bridget Duffy, MD, chief medical officer of Vocera. “With burnout and fatigue at an all-time high for physicians, nurses, and other healthcare professionals, executives can strengthen care team collaboration and well-being by creating environments that support these healers and restore joy to the practice of medicine.”

Patients and families must also be empowered to engage more in experience work. Only 28 percent of research participants said they partner with patients in every improvement project, and 7 percent said they don’t engage patients at all. The full 2016 Rise of the Healthcare CXO report will be released at the Experience Innovation Network’s 10th semi-annual CXO Roundtable, May 3-4, 2016, in San Francisco. To dive deeper into the research findings, download the report via this link:http://solutions.vocera.com/2016CXOReport.html.

About Vocera
Vocera Communications, Inc. offers the most robust clinical communications system in healthcare. Installed in more than 1,300 organizations worldwide, Vocera delivers secure, integrated and intelligent communication solutions that enable care teams to collaborate more efficiently by delivering the right information, to the right person, on the right device, in the right location, at the right time. Vocera solutions provide hands-free voice communication, secure text messaging, patient engagement tools, and integrated clinical workflow with EHRs, nurse call systems and physiological monitors.  These solutions help improve operational efficiency, quality of care, safety and satisfaction across the continuum of care. In addition to technology solutions, Vocera drives thought leadership and new standards in care to elevate patient, family, nurse and physician experiences via the company's research collaborative, the Experience Innovation Network. Vocera is headquartered in San Jose, California, with offices in San Francisco, Tennessee, Canada, India, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit www.vocera.com and @VoceraComm on Twitter.

The Vocera logo is a trademark of Vocera Communications, Inc. Vocera® is a trademark of Vocera Communications, Inc. registered in the United States and other jurisdictions. All other trademarks appearing in this release are the property of their respective owners.

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