Hackensack Meridian Health has announced the implementation of staff ideas aimed at humanizing patient care.
Three ideas were chosen from more than 70 submissions in the “Bear’s Den Innovation Program”, intended to turn promising health-care concepts into reality. These ideas will be implemented in pilot programs to test their effectiveness and prepared for network-wide implementation upon completion.
The three selected:
- The Silent Struggle – A modern solution that provides iPads equipped with speech-generating applications to patients who are unable to communicate verbally. This gives a voice to the voiceless, empowering them to express their needs and reducing the anxiety and frustration associated with communication barriers. This project is led by Josi Shimkus and Joy Schiro from Jersey Shore University Medical Center.
- Get to Know Me: Humanizing Patient Care – An initiative centered on a bedside “Get to Know Me” board that allows patients to share personal information, such as their hobbies, values, and what makes them feel comfortable. This tool fosters deeper, more meaningful connections between care teams and patients, ensuring every patient is seen as a person first. This project was initiated by a team of nurses at Old Bridge Medical Center.
- Increasing Pediatric Mobility, an initiative by the H.E.A.R.T.S. Project – A creative “Pediatric Safari Adventure” scavenger hunt designed to motivate and encourage hospitalized children to ambulate. By turning a clinical necessity into a fun activity, this project aims to reduce fear, increase compliance, and make the hospital feel less medical and more fun for the network’s youngest patients. This project is led by Ashley Sbarra, R.N., Marissa Samaan, and Kelsey Parodi of Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital.
HMH CEO Robert Garrett praised the initiative and the results.
“Our yearly Bear’s Den challenge draws from the experience of more than 30,000 team members in real-world health care practice,” he said. “Steadily coming together with new ideas for improvements great and small is how we make our biggest strides as an organization.”
Since its launch in 2017, the Bear’s Den has served as the health network’s novel incubator, bringing together HMH executive leadership, domain experts, health care providers, patent attorneys, and venture capitalists to invest in promising innovations. The program has successfully advanced numerous internal strategies and external companies focused on streamlining care delivery, reducing hospital readmissions, and empowering patients to partner with their physicians.
