Providence has molded a promise, “know me, care for me, ease my way”, from ­­­its centuries-old mission of outreach to those most in need.

To that end, the health organization began engaging employees to seek innovative ways to improve patients’ experiences and to better address health equity.

The effort paid off recently when Project Esperanza, Spanish for “hope,” was initiated as a pilot program at four Providence Los Angeles-Area hospitals.

Providence earned two US Customer Experience Awards, beating out some of the nation’s largest corporations. The initiative earned gold for Best Business Change and Transformation and silver for Best Use of Customer Insights.

“The multi-functional team that worked across these four hospitals embodies our Providence Promise in working to understand the issues our patients face in overcoming the language barrier to access care,” said Laureen Driscoll, chief executive, Providence South Division, serving California. “We know the bedside care we provide is exemplary. But weaving your way through a very complex system is a challenge for most people, especially those who don’t speak the language.”

While confident all patients receive high-quality care, Providence recognized the need to reach out to Hispanic patients, identifying Spanish-speaking employees to help them better understand the American health care system and to navigate their way to support services.

Providence Holy Cross Medical Center, Mission Hills; Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center, Burbank; Providence Saint John’s Health Center, Santa Monica; and Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center Torrance participated in the pilot, creating employee teams to identify obstacles and develop solutions to ease the way for patients and visitors. The eventual goal is to share these successes across the 51-hospital, seven-state health system.

The work began last year, when the Providence revenue cycle team realized the difficulties patients face in connecting to financial assistance, an extremely important step for lower income patients seeking comprehensive quality care. By walking the path of a patient in need of information and services, team members identified ways to simplify this journey.

These teams were composed of about 20 employees from several departments – finance, operations, clinical care, health equity, procurement, quality and others. They gathered in a room where they were asked for four ideas.

“It was Shark Tank,” said Jeff Logan, group vice president of patient and market experience for Providence. “They blew us away with more than 67 ideas! What resulted was an effort to dig in and measure the end-to-end patient experience.

“They followed the path of patients to see the complexities, voice their questions, make suggestions,” Logan said. “How can we provide a more relevant experience, ease their way and help our patients achieve the best possible outcomes as they relate to them.”

Employees noted patients not fluent in English often are confused, intimidated and fearful, and their health can suffer because they give up on getting the care they need.

“I felt alone, scared, worried. That was eye-opening,” one employee said of trying to maneuver the way through services.

These employees realized the challenges patients, especially those who don’t speak and read English, face in navigating a hospital. This spurred more ideas for change than expected, eight of which are part of the first set of initiatives shaping changes.