AISE – Assistance, Information, Safety, Equality 

Category: Taking into account patient experience in the communication process

Country: Belgium

Organisation: Groupe Santé CHC

The Groupe Santé CHC aims to ensure high-quality and accessible care for all patients, including Persons with Specific Needs (PSN), such as individuals with reduced mobility, visual or hearing impairments, comprehension difficulties, intellectual disabilities, or disorientation. 

To better anticipate these needs, CHC has implemented a system allowing patients to identify their specific requirements before coming to the hospital through a dedicated form available on the website. Alternative options (telephone or in-person assistance at reception) are provided for those unable to complete the form online. 

The completed form is reviewed by a designated contact person who coordinates with the appropriate professionals and ensures that the relevant information is recorded in the patient’s electronic medical record, enabling teams to prepare and provide adapted care. In the future, a PSN alert will also be visible in the electronic patient file to facilitate care coordination.

Innovation Guided by Patient Experience

Category: Taking into account patient experience in the communication process

Country: France

Organisation: Clinique Charcot

Following a review of patient feedback, the Clinique Charcot identified that post-operative information was still largely provided through paper booklets, which were often misplaced. Discussions with both patients and the healthcare professionals involved in their care highlighted opportunities to improve this stage of the care pathway. In response, the clinic launched an initiative to digitalize post-operative booklets for spinal surgery patients. 

Patients can now access, through a digital platform, the post-operative instructions related to their procedure, an explanatory video presenting the hospitalization pathway, the Day Hospital information booklet, a digital satisfaction survey, and a series of educational videos demonstrating recommended post-surgical postures to support optimal recovery. 

After six months of implementation, feedback from both patients and healthcare teams has been very positive. Building on this encouraging experience, the Clinique Charcot now plans to extend this digital format to other care pathways and surgical procedures.

Key Words at Key Moments: A Practical Guide for Empathetic and Effective Communication Between Healthcare Professionals and Patients

Category: Taking patient experience into account in the communication process

Country: Spain

Organisation: Fundació Assistencial Mútua de Terrassa

With the objective to foster patient experience culture throughout the organisation, Fundació Assistencial Mútua de Terrassa (FAMT) decided to create a highly practical guide that includes key words, phrases and communication strategies that foster empathetic and effective communication between patients and professionals at every touchpoint of all healthcare pathways. 

The guide has been developed based on contextual observation on professional and patient conversations through all main healthcare pathways: inpatient services, emergency room, operating rooms, imaging diagnostics, outpatient consultations, primary care, intermediate care among others. The guide is deployed in the intranet of the institution, and the content search can be personalised by professional profile. 

The project also includes a directed Training Program aimed at over all the professionals who have direct interaction with patients and families (total of 3.200) and it is based on Role Play techniques. Training sessions last 4 hours, with 15 participants per group, offered in two modalities: clinical and non-clinical, depending on the situations to be recreated. 

The project is gradually becoming a catalyst for cultural change at the organisation. On one hand, professionals now have a reference guide for their daily work. On the other hand, the manual is helping transform the entity’s culture toward a patient experience-based management model, as well as reinforcing FAMT’s identity by building a common language with patients and families.

Brúixola Project: Support and Improvement of the Experience of Lung Cancer Patients in the C-17 Network

Category: Taking patient experience into account in the communication process

Country: Spain

Organisation: Hospital Clínic de Barcelona

Brúixola Project is an inter‑institutional initiative designed to improve the experience of patients with lung cancer who navigate across multiple healthcare centres along the C‑17 network. The project identifies unmet needs through focus groups, interviews and collaborative work among professionals, highlighting challenges related to information, communication, logistics, and care transitions. Using participatory methodologies such as photovoice, world café and prioritisation exercises, the initiative engages clinicians from all centres to co‑design feasible and high‑impact improvements. 

The resulting outputs include harmonised diagnostic and referral guides, audiovisual materials and tools to support patient navigation and reduce uncertainty throughout the journey. Implementation is carried out locally at each centre, accompanied by a mixed‑methods evaluation that captures patient experience after surgery and additional qualitative insights. 

Overall, the initiative establishes a scalable model to enhance coordination, equity and patient‑centred care across a multi‑hospital pathway.