Bridget Duffy

Empowering healing. This is what will transform healthcare as we know now it. Equipping each person to be an agent of healing changes the experience, changes how patients feel, changes the culture of organizations and has a ripple effect in all aspects of our lives.

Wonderful to see, hear and experience this presentation. . .Dr. Bridget Duffy (and The Cleveland Clinic) is holding the space for real change to happen and sharing the journey so other environments can be transformed by this model. She recognizes the people that have helped her get to this point on her journey, too (Earl Bakken plus many other colleagues). By looking at the world from the patients' perspective, the focus becomes softer and gentler through the eyes of love. Yes, the HEART of Healing is for the art and science to come together in a blending of the whole (mind, body, spirit) rather than targeting the "sick" parts of the body.

Tim from IDEO talks about the patient experience a little in this presentation - http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/tim_brown_on_creativity_and_play.html - isnt it true that the ceiling of a hospital (and dentist) is critical if you're on your back as a patient?

This type of continuity should be used in all industries, not just medical.

This is exactly what we need more of in healthcare. As a nurse who has watched hands on patient care transform into merely data gathering and hands on device maneuvering it is time we get back to the heart of healthcare which is caring for the hearts and souls of those who entrust their lives to us. I intend to share this with the leaders of my system and hope to ignite a fire of transformation in focus. Patients and family members expect clinical and technological expertise from their care givers but what they remember most is those warm touches, soft whispers, and warm blankets that a nurse or doctor provided them. My life has been blessed by the memories of just those moments I have had the honor to share with my patients and their families during my nursing career. Thank you Dr. Duffy, what an inspiration you have and will be.

I am 67 and poor (by choice). Bridget Duffy moves me to tears.

Here are some thoughts I recorded after a visit to my Kaiser physician. I never had the guts to share it with him but I did share it with the chief medical officer and received a letter--not unthoughtful but lacking the very connection I sought--a chief medical officer, unable to respond to my letter in a way that made me feel seen and heard.

I am so appreciative of Bridget Duffy and of Edwin Rutsch's tireless work to spread the message of empathy on the internet and in person for sending me this link.

Uno desaparecido—
after the visit to Kaiser

Did you forget the privilege of your position?
Did you forget that each life is precious—
yours and mine—even when we have
just a few minutes together—
especially when we have
just a few minutes together—
what if you died in the night or I
and that was our moment together to use
and we let it fall prey, as we did,
to some extraordinary rendition of our own,
allowed our moment to become uno desaparecido
to become a bloody Myranmar monk—
lost to each of us, gone, never to return.
What if I were your very own new born child,
vernix caseosa on your hands and forearms
as you catch and cradle this new life?
Think of me so and I will try to do the same
and not wait to see what you will do
but do what comes most naturally to newborns—
know my need to be seen and held—
and know, as well, your own
and then, perhaps, if we can hold ourselves there
we’ll seize our one moment
and not allow it
to be disappeared.

BD 11/14/07

Interesting clip, which picks up on a number of emotional and practical issues which are obvious to the patient, but often a low priority to healthcare providers.

I've done a lot of work in this area, in therapy areas such as cholesterol, glaucoma, erectile dysfunction and COPD. My experience is that, to get real and lasting change, you need to translate patient needs and feelings into practical initiatives that offer win-wins. It's no good JUST working with either doctors OR nurses OR patients. It needs to focus on overlapping patient needs with existing clinical processes and pathways - find the common ground, explore the gaps and build shared benefits, with sound financials, alongside softer improvements.

Thank you for sharing this speech. I guess I am a disciple of Dr. Duffy's, and I have never met her. I am encouraged that Cleveland Clinic has taken this so seriously, I hope they do ALL that Dr. Duffy prescribes. Her heart is truly in it, I just hope the accountability and sustainability follows long after she leaves.

I have seen many great ideas fall to the way side because they do not get ingrained into the organizational infrastructure: Pay for performance, onboarding, recruitment, and medical school training to name a few.

I take my hat off to Dr. Duffy and glad we are on the same page of the radical physical therapy healthcare needs to become patient focused.

Truly inspirational. First, I was not sure how this talk was related to customer experience and what one may learn from this, but then I realized that this is every bit about the ultimate customer exprience and how we would like to be treated in time of need!

Gret job!