[Text on screen: QI HUB Presents: Voice of the Customer and Empathy Maps The Ohio State University College of Medicine The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center] Speaker: In healthcare, improvement starts with listening, not just to the data, but to the people experiencing the system every day. [Animation on screen of ear listening to data chart that changes to people] [Text on screen: Voice of the Customer] One way we listen to the people is by capturing the voice of the customer. [Text on screen: Voice of the Customer Express directly or indirectly Needs Preferences Frustrations Experiences] In this context, customer doesn't just mean a paying client. [Text on screen: Customer: Anyone impacted by a process or service in the delivery of care] It means anyone impacted by a process or service in the delivery of care. [A patient, family member, nurse, scheduler, and physician appear on screen] That could be a patient, a family member, a nurse, a scheduler, a physician or anyone who relies on or contributes to how care is delivered. The voice of the customer refers to what these people involved in the process express directly or indirectly about their needs, preferences, frustrations, and experiences. [Text on screen: Voice of the Customer Includes: Said during interviews Captured in complaints and surveys Heard during informal conversations or Gemba walks Shows up in workarounds or patient behaviors] It includes what people say during interviews, what's captured in complaints or surveys, and what you hear during informal conversations or Gemba walks. It might even show up in staff workarounds or patient behaviors that suggest something isn't working. [Text on screen: Voice of the Customer Interviews Complaints Surveys Conversations Gemba walks Workarounds Behaviors Valuable insight into how system is functioning] This kind of information gives us valuable insight into how the system is functioning from the ground level. [Text on screen: Listening isn't enough] [Image of ear] But listening alone isn't enough. [Text on screen: Make sense of what we're hearing] We also need a way to make sense of what we're hearing. [Text on screen: Empathy Map] That's where empathy maps can help. [Text on screen: Empathy Map Organize what someone might be:] [Image of ring connecting six circles with text: Seeing, Saying, Doing, Hearing, Thinking, Feeling] An empathy map is a simple tool that helps teams organize what someone might be seeing, saying, doing, hearing, thinking, and feeling. [Text on screen: Organized in relation to a specific situation or process] This is organized in relation to a specific situation or process. [Text on screen with arrow connecting: Individual comments and observations Broader understanding of person's experience] It turns individual comments and observations into a broader understanding of that person's experience. [Animation of man walking out of a hospital] For example, imagine you're working on a project to improve follow-up after hospital discharge. [Text on screen: Gathered feedback from patients and staff Conducted a few Gemba walks Conducted interviews with patients] You've gathered feedback from patients and staff and conducted a few Gemba walks. You also conduct interviews with the patients. [Text on screen: Patients: Don't realize they need to schedule follow up] [Image of man] You learn that patients often say they didn't realize they needed to schedule a follow-up. [Text on screen: Nurses: Too pressed for time to do discharge education] [Image of nurse] Nurses say they are too pressed for time during discharge to do thorough discharge education. [Text on screen: Paperwork: Long and rarely reviewed out loud] [Image of paper] You notice discharge paperwork is long and rarely reviewed out loud. Now, you might use an empathy map to better understand the patient's experience. [Diagram of empathy map with empty sections labeled: Who?, Need to Do?, See?, Say, Do?, Hear?, Think and Feel] Who are we empathizing with? [Animation zooms in on section titled: Who?] [Text on screen: Who? The patient] The patient. [Animation zooms in on section titled: Need to Do?] [Text on screen: Need to Do? Schedule follow up after discharge] What do they need to do? Schedule follow-up after discharge. [Text on screen: With the information you gathered, you determine common experiences to be:] With the information you gathered from patient and staff interviews as well as Gemba walks, you determine common experiences to be that. [Animation zooms in on section titled: See?] [Text on screen: See? personal items people waiting on them packet of papers] They see the personal items they need to collect before leaving, people waiting on them, and a packet of papers handed to them by a staff member. [Animation zooms in on section titled: Say?] [Text on screen: Say? "I thought someone would call me."] They say, “I thought someone would call me.” [Animation zooms in on section titled: Do?] [Text on screen: Do? wait at home, uncertain about next steps] They do wait at home uncertain about next steps. [Animation zooms in on section titled: Hear?] [Text on screen: Hear? sounds in the room alarm nurse asking if they have questions] They hear sounds in the room, an alarm in the hallway, as well as the nurse asking them if they have any questions about their discharge paperwork. [Animation zooms in on section titled: Think and Feel] [Text on screen: Think and Feel "I don't want to mess this up." confused/anxious glad to go home] They think, “I don't want to mess this up.” They feel confused and a bit anxious. They also feel glad to be going home. [Text on screen: Voice of the Customer: Raw data Empathy Map: Visualize and internalize the raw data.] The voice of the customer gives you the raw data. The empathy map helps you visualize and internalize it, turning disconnected data points into a more complete picture of a real person's experience. [Question mark appears] So how do these tools relate? [Text on screen: Voice of the Customer Collecting participant insights interviews observations surveys existing literature] Voice of the customer can be thought of as the process of collecting participant insights through interviews, observations, surveys, or existing literature. [Text on screen: Empathy maps Reflect on and synthesize insights Better understand who improvement is for] Empathy maps can be used to reflect on and synthesize those insights, so your team can better understand who you're designing the improvement for. [Animation of doctors talking and filling in the empathy map] Empathy maps are most powerful when created collaboratively. Bring your team together to review what you've heard, fill in each section of the map, and discuss what the patterns could suggest. [Animation of doctor nurse speaking to a patient] You'll start to see the system not just as a flowchart, but as something people are living and navigating every day. [Text on screen: Empathy Map Use empathy maps with staff who are part of the process: medical assistant provider scheduler Improvement effort] You can use empathy maps for more than just patients. Try them with staff who are part of the process, a medical assistant, providers who receive the follow-up, a scheduler, anyone whose experience could shape or be shaped by the improvement effort. [Text on screen: Empathy Map Research can support this work too Published studies or reports Identify common experiences or challenges Validate what you're seeing or Reveal issues] And don't forget, research can support this work too. Looking at published studies or existing reports can help you identify common experiences or challenges in similar settings. These sources can validate what you're seeing or reveal issues you haven't yet considered. [Text on screen: Voice of the Customer + Empathy Map Help move from assumption to understanding] Together, understanding the voice of the customer and using empathy maps help you move from assumption to understanding. [Text on screen: Center improvement on what matters to those involved] They help you center your improvement efforts on what truly matters to the people involved. And that's what makes improvement work meaningful and effective. [Text on screen: Thank you! Scan the QR code for references and resources QI Hub The Ohio State University College of Medicine The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center] [QR code links to: https://go.osu.edu/qihub]