ThiRe

"ThiRe"

• 180-bed hospital plus a clinic network
• 1700+ employees
• 6,000 inpatient admission/year (volume)
• Visibility Gaps: Leaders were less present across units, limiting communication and feedback loops
• Cultural Drift: Standards of Performance had faded from daily practice, leaving employees uncertain.
• Experience Plateau: Patient satisfaction and teamwork scores stalled below national averages.

The Challenge:

When experience falls short, ratings reflect the gaps. In early 2024, this regional health system faced what many hospitals did post-pandemic: a culture that had survived—but not yet healed.

Patients were cared for, but not always known. Teams were efficient, but exhausted. Trust, once the heartbeat of the organization, had thinned.

By early 2024, safety, teamwork, and engagement lagged, and the Leapfrog Grade had fallen to a D.

Three Compounding Factors were identified:

The Solution:

HXF Advisors facilitated deep, meaningful discussion via a senior leadership deep dive that reawakened purpose and redefined what excellence looks like when lived daily. Over two days, leaders didn’t talk about initiatives—they talked about identity. Together they recrafted their standards of Performance, called The Journey to Excellence, anchoring behaviors like respect, accountability, teamwork, and ambassadorship into a shared code of belonging. But clarity alone wasn’t enough; it had to be embodied. Through Relationship Rounds™ – Senior Leader, executives stepped back into the heartbeat of the hospital, holding purposeful, human-centered conversations guided by the Relationship Rounds™ app. These visible touchpoints turned leadership from distant authority into daily presence—trust was rebuilt not by policy, but by proximity.

At the bedside, Relationship Rounds™ – Patient transformed traditional hourly rounding into an act of relational care. Leaders used app insights to ensure consistency, recognition, and coaching. The result was proactive care that felt deeply personal: calmer units, fewer call lights, and patients who felt seen. As staff gained confidence, HCAHPS Forward Workshops connected behavior to meaning, showing teams how survey results mirror the stories they create every day. Behind it all, the Relationship Rounds™ Platform united every layer —senior, employee, patient, and interdepartmental rounding—into one rhythm of relational leadership. Each conversation, each moment of presence became part of a new language of leadership—one written not in mandates, but in relationships.

The Return

Within 18 months, the system saw dramatic improvement.

• Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade from D (spring 2025) to B (spring 2025)
• Quality of Care Domain (Inpatient) – 79^th percentile to 98^th percentile (20+ pt change after 18 months)
• Quality of Care Domain (ED) – 37^th percentile to 96^th percentile (60+ pts after 18 months)
• Safety – 45^th percentile to 94^th percentile (50+ points after 18 months)
• Teamwork – 6^0th percentile to 92^nd percentile (30+ points after 18 months)