How an accident and an epiphany shaped my vision for the future of health care

After 29 years of marriage, the last words I wanted to hear as a husband were, “Your wife has been in a car accident. She’s unconscious in the ER.” But perhaps even more unexpected was how difficult it was for someone who has spent three decades in health care and who runs a multi-billion-dollar health system to navigate her care. 

Everything we experienced after that accident felt like an uphill battle we couldn’t win, which left me with one thought: there must be a better way. At the time, I was six months from becoming CEO of AdventHealth, and I knew I had to turn my epiphany into action. 

A Series of (Un)Fortunate Events

It started with my annoyance at how hard it was to even find my wife upon arrival. I couldn’t find parking on my own and wound up paying $20 to a valet in a disheveled rush. Then I had to wait in an entry processing line that looked more like airport security on the day before Thanksgiving. By the time I made it up to her room, I was both scared and aggravated. For a moment, I was shocked and perplexed when, after introducing myself and asking for Paula, a nurse stopped me from entering the room to see my wife.

But what came next is something I’ll never forget. She said, “Look Mr. Shaw, your wife has been through an awful lot today, and she can’t see you the way you are now. You’re pale and ashen. Take my hand, calm down, and let’s get your color back. Before you walk in to see her, I need you to compose yourself. She’s going to need you to be strong for her.”

This thoughtful gesture truly touched my heart and helped me re-center before seeing my wife. While this did not take place at a hospital in our organization, I was reminded of something I needed to bring back to my work at AdventHealth: We need to be caring for the whole patient, not just tending to their most immediate medical issue.

Upon Paula’s discharge, I also realized that patient care doesn’t end when you leave the hospital. We received a packet of information as thick as a medical encyclopedia, a to-do list including contacting three different physicians for follow-ups, an incomprehensible bill, and we were sent on our way. 

Epiphany to Action: Wholistic Health Care Starts Here

I went back to my job determined to find solutions. After rounds of hypothesizing and testing, we zeroed in on four service standards that describe what patients expect from us. We find these service standards are critical for navigating care and ensuring our teams deliver on our promise of wholistic patient care. 

The first, is “keep me safe.” No matter if you’re in a physician’s office or an emergency room, the clinical setting is generally pretty foreign to most; it can be a scary place. It’s our job as health care providers to make patients and their loved ones feel safe and secure in our care. On the day of Paula’s accident, she was all alone until I arrived, and I arrived panicked and distraught. Even though I’m usually at ease in a hospital setting, I needed that nurse to make me feel safe.

Next, “love me.” I know this may seem a bit strange, but love is an important part of the health care journey, so stay with me on this one. When Paula arrived in the ER that day, she was unconscious. She was at her most vulnerable and helpless and she was desperately in need of unconditional love. I like to use the analogy of my two grandmothers. One grandmother was a bit hard to get along with, and it was always a struggle to please her. I was constantly looking for her affirmation. My other grandmother was easy going. She didn’t care what clothes I wore, who my friends were or what grades I was making. She just loved me. That’s what I want our employees to do for every patient that comes to us for their care. No matter their circumstances or background, we are going to love them.

Arguably the biggest one for me is, “make it easy.” After Paula’s experience, I realized how hard we, as a health care industry, have actually made it for our “consumers.” Before we needed one, I had no idea how inaccessible neurologists are or how difficult it would be to find one to treat a car accident patient. I believe I’m fairly well-connected in this industry, and it took me two months to even get an appointment. Between the three physicians Paula needed to follow up with, it was nearly impossible to get her patient records from doctor to doctor. We, as health care professionals, can be really bad at making the patient journey easy. We need to simplify the process so that more people are willing to come to us for care instead of feeling afraid or avoiding seeking care.

Finally, we have to “own the problem.” The issues Paula and I faced weren’t due to a problem at one hospital in Florida, but rather they’re indicative of a much larger, farther reaching industry problem. My pet peeve is hearing anyone in my organization say, “That’s not my job.” Actually, it’s everybody’s job. I don’t care who you are, including me. 

Our hospitals are now requiring every employee to take wholistic care training inclusive of the four things outlined above and educating them on how to connect patients to different resources from the moment they enter our doors throughout their stay and beyond their discharge. Why? Because I don’t want anyone to experience what I did when my wife was in the hospital, and as a health system CEO I have the ability to change it.