COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS

Date: Wednesday, June 5, 2024, 7:00 - 10:00 AM

Location: Hilton Frontenac St. Louis

​​​​​​

MHI kicked off its Community Connections series with the inaugural event on June 5, 2024 that focused on patient experience in primary care.

To introduce the topic and set the tone for the event, MHI board members Linda Brady and Dr. Bob Pendleton shared with the audience what patient experience in primary care means to both purchasers of health care and physicians.

​

Linda Brady, representing The Boeing Company, testified to the importance of primary care in ensuring the health of an employee population, emphasizing primary care access and patient relationships as key areas of focus. Dr. Bob Pendleton, Chief Clinical Officer of SSM Health in St. Louis, provided insight into the many challenges that primary care practices face, underscoring the need for dedicated community improvements to the health care system and the impact of ensuring high quality patient experience.

​

Keynote speaker Barbra G. Rabson, President and CEO of Massachusetts Health Quality Partners (MHQP), a patient experience measurement pioneer organization, presented evidence linking patient experience to health outcomes and recounted the Massachusetts story of building momentum to measure patient experience and implement effective interventions in practice. Ms. Rabson recognized the oppositional forces working against the measurement of patient experience but weighed numerical and anecdotal data from primary care practices that embraced the focus on patient experience to emphasize the improvements benefiting both patients and clinicians alike.

​

During the group discussion period, participants reflected on how to advance primary care in St. Louis, while drawing from the previous presentations as well as their own roles and experiences within the health care system. Practicing clinicians, health care purchasers, and other stakeholders were able to exchange perspectives to help each other understand their priorities and challenges with primary care.

​

All Community Connections participants were asked to think boldly when answering the question, “What big idea would you recommend that would make St. Louis a national leader in primary care?”