Studies in Empathy: A Cleveland Clinic Podcast

What qualities are important for working in healthcare? Join host Steph Bayer in a conversation with Kiersten Kanaley, Executive Director of Talent Acquisition Operations at Cleveland Clinic. Kiersten discusses how empathy fits into the hiring process, what Cleveland Clinic is doing to recruit intentionally from the communities it serves, and what she sees as the biggest trends in healthcare recruiting today.

How do we create joy for others and for ourselves? Join host Steph Bayer in a radiant conversation with Corporal Eric Hudson, an officer who has been with the Cleveland Clinic Police Department for 20 years. In this episode bursting with energy, Corporal Hudson shares what inspires him to shake out dance moves on the crosswalk, empathize with patients and fellow caregivers, and brighten the lives of the people around him.

How do we respond to challenges involving trauma? Join host Steph Bayer and Katharine Manning, author of The Empathetic Workplace: 5 Steps to a Compassionate, Calm, and Confident Response to Trauma on the Job. In this episode, Katharine talks about her 25+ years of experience working on issues of trauma and victimization, how empathy is key to connecting with survivors, and how we can better support each other and ourselves.

Can music heal? Listen as host Steph Bayer and Cleveland Clinic Music Therapist, Christine Bomberger, explore how music can help ease pain and reduce stress and anxiety for patients. Together they discuss how the addition of a recording studio within the Children's Hospital allowed patients and loved ones to be creative, maintain connections, and ease suffering during difficult times.

What do our patients really want us to know about how they want to be treated? Join host Steph Bayer and Kate Watson, a longtime patient of Cleveland Clinic who was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer at 35. Together they discuss what patients really want and need from their healthcare providers and how the patient voice is a vital part of the care we provide.

Why is volunteerism so important and how does it impact both our patients and staff? Hear from Cleveland Clinic Volunteer Director, Alicia Pitre, as she shares her own passion for volunteerism and how today's healthcare volunteers give their time to provide support, encouragement and an empathic perspective to help lighten the loads on our patients and caregivers.

What do future healthcare leaders think of the current state of our industry and where it is heading? In this episode, graduate students and Cleveland Clinic interns, Yamileth Gonzalez and Ermonela Muhameti, talk with host Steph Bayer to share their unique perspectives as immigrants who came to the United States at a young age. These experiences helped shape their passions for improving healthcare and access for underserved populations with empathy as a guiding principle.

How do healthcare organizations utilize empathy to ensure all patients receive the best care possible without any biases? Listen in as we have this important conversation with Rachel Godsil, distinguished professor of law at Rutgers Law School and co-founder and co-director of the Perception Institute, an institute devoted to creating solutions to reduced discrimination and other harms linked to cultural and social identity differences.

How do we truly see and serve our patients to magnify their dignity? In this episode, Dr. Wesley Ely shares his passion for treating critically ill patients and his philosophy that we cannot heal patients with technology if we do not first see them for who they are as a human being.

Do we care enough about our community to have a conversation about belonging and welcoming? Healthcare systems should be focusing on advancing health equity in their communities. Take a moment and listen to Monica Ramirez, Founder and President of Justice for Migrant Workers, and Steph Bayer give the space to talk about including and reaching out to our vulnerable populations.

Have you been training your empathy lately? Just like our muscles, we can train ourselves to be more empathetic and there is science to prove it. Listen in as we speak with Dr. Helen Riess, the founder and CEO of Empathetics and Psychiatrist at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, about the neuroscience and benefits of empathy in healthcare.

“Hey Alexa, play my favorite song!” You immediately smile and your mood is suddenly lifted. Why is that? Tune in to hear Maria Jukic, a senior director for the Arts & Medicine Institute at the Cleveland Clinic and host, Steph Bayer, explore the science behind the impact art has on our health and wellbeing.

How do healthcare organizations continue to provide the best patient experience with a burned-out and exhausted staff? Do we still expect caregivers to provide the same level of care they did before the COVID pandemic? Join us in this episode with Sven Gierlinger, Chief Experience Officer at Northwell Health, and Rick Evans, Senior Vice President of Patient Services and Chief Experience Officer at New York Presbyterian hospital, as we discuss the hardships and opportunities we have to evolve the way we support caregivers, patients, and patients' families.

Who do you call for the toughest patient care cases that don't seem to have a clear path forward? In this episode, Dr. Jane Jankowski, Director of the Center for Bioethics and Dr. Georgina Morley, Director of the Nurse Ethics Program at Cleveland Clinic share how they and their teams advise and support the clinical teams in the most complex and distressing situations.

How do you build a facility from the ground up in a new country that maintains the organization's model around delivering empathic care while incorporating the knowledge, experience and expertise of the UK's healthcare professionals? Join Dr. Jim Gutierrez, Chief of Quality, Safety, and Patient Experience at Cleveland Clinic London as he shares the journey of Cleveland Clinic London from inception to opening.

How can improv and communication skills translate to a more creative, compassionate and empathetic environment in the healthcare setting? Listen as we explore the why and how of better listening, empathetic communication, being others focused with Kelly Leonard, the Executive Director of Learning and Applied Improvisation at Second City Works. Additionally, Kelly shares how his own personal and professional journeys have shaped his thoughts around empathy, communication and resiliency.

How can organizations take advantage of advanced technologies to care for patients while maintaining compassion, empathy and the human touch? In this episode, Cleveland Clinic's Chief Information Officer, Matt Kull, shares how the organization leverages data and technology to personalize the patient experience while maintaining privacy and the highest standards of care.

How do you foster empathy and resiliency during difficult times? Join us in a conversation with Steph Bayer, Senior Director, Patient Experience and Paul Kuzmickas, Director, Ombudsman at Cleveland Clinic as they discuss how ombudsman and patient experience leaders work to have the tough conversations and carry the heavy loads in order to provide support to patients, visitors and employees alike.

Seeking help is a sign of strength, not a sign of weakness. Yet many are reluctant to seek help in times of grief or hardship. In this episode, Amy Freadling, Ph.D. discusses the importance of caring for healthcare workers, finding meaning in our losses, and rebuilding from within.

Is a DO more inclined to touch a patient than an MD? In this episode, Leonard Calabrese, DO discusses empathy as a measurable and reproducible science. Drawing on his experiences as a physician, researcher, professor, and human being, Calabrese also recounts his personal journey in empathy.

How can an organization standardize and sustain a culture of empathy from the bedside to the board room? In this episode, Carol Santalucia, the founder of Cleveland Clinic's Communicate with H.E.A.R.T. ® program, reveals the importance of listening to caregivers.

How do you build a culture of consistent performance, decreased suffering, fulfilling the promise to our patients and caregivers? Join us in a conversation with Leslie Jurecko, MD, sharing strategies, behaviors, and processes that create and support a high reliability organization.

How do we filter through the research, publications, and ways to measure value and quality outcomes to assess what indeed is a best practice? Join us with Laura Cooley, Ph.D., in a discussion on how we can prevent getting derailed and focus on effective best practices to create authentic connections.

Are you creating experiences that patients actually value and thrive in? How do we optimize empathy in our culture, structures, and initiatives? Join us as Julie Rish, PhD delves into human-centered design and partnering with patients to better understand the journey and create meaningful experiences.

Join us in a dialogue with Geoff Colvin delving into the parallels between healthcare and the military as it relates to having honest conversations and showing empathy, especially when there is a power differential.

Can we drive patient experience by focusing on caregiver experience? Join us as we discuss healthy teams, leader behaviors, empathic accountability, and more in a conversation with Linda McHugh, Chief Human Resource Officer at Cleveland Clinic.

Join us in a conversation with Victor Montori, MD, as we explore moving beyond the checkbox to reevaluate our mission and challenge institutions, business processes, and metrics to deliver careful and kind care.

How do we move from traumatic loss to well-grieved loss in healthcare? Can we use improv as an effective communication strategy? Join us as we explore those questions, palliative medicine, and more with Katie Neuendorf, MD.

What's going on that isn't meeting expectations and how can we fix it? How can we best address concerns and empower caregivers? Join us as Stephanie Bayer, JD, shares experiences and best practices in patient relations, complaints & grievances, and setting expectations with empathy.

What does research tell us about an individual’s identity? How do we leverage technology to personalize care? Susannah Rose, PhD lays out what years of research has taught us about what patients’ want and need from healthcare of the future.

Ever wonder how to bring clinicians to the table to discuss empathy and keep them there? Amy Windover, PhD shares insight and tips from a decade of training relationship-centered communication in healthcare. Join us as we dive into self-empathy, burnout, and words that can transform just about any conversation.

Adrienne Boissy, MD, reflects on the past decade of patient experience journey. Where has the patient experience field been and how do we transform the experience of the future?

You may be a good communicator, but what do the great ones do? Join us for a touching conversation with Tim Gilligan, MD, as he discusses how key changes in your communication skills can build stronger relationships with patients and colleagues.

When people have questions of meaning, faith, and hope in the hospital, chaplains foster a path to courage. Amy Greene, DMin, MDiv shares her story about the powerful moment she wanted to leave the profession and what made her stay.