How It Works
Five steps to activate trust across the continuum.
Turn feedback into a response your team can deliver. The Trust Activation Model defines how it works; the Activation Sprint organizes the work needed to put it into practice.
Trust Activation operating model
A repeatable model for activating trust.
Each step connects a patient or team need to a useful response—and evidence of what changed.
- 01
Surface Trust Signals
Listen through CAHPS, patient and family feedback, employee and physician research, and operational signals across the continuum of care.
CreatesA relevant signal
- 02
Synthesize Intelligence
Connect scattered inputs and translate them into decision-ready priorities.
CreatesA shared priority
- 03
Guide the Journey
Use timely, accessible communication to make the next step clear.
CreatesA clear next step
- 04
Activate the Next Right Action
Coordinate access, care teams, operations, and leadership around a defined response, accountable owner, and escalation path.
CreatesAn accountable response
- 05
Learn & Scale
Measure what changed, refine the intervention, and expand successful workflows.
CreatesEvidence to improve
One patient journey. Many opportunities to help.
Use each interaction to improve the next.
The five steps can be applied wherever a patient needs guidance or a team needs to respond. Start with one moment, then use what you learn to improve the pathway.
- BEFORE CARE
Help people reach care prepared.
Search & access · Schedule · Prepare
Respond: Clarify the next step, identify a barrier, and offer a route to help or reschedule.
Learn: Which barriers still prevent patients from completing a visit?
- DURING CARE
Resolve concerns while they matter.
Arrive · Receive care
Respond: Listen during the visit or stay, assign an owner, and confirm follow-through.
Learn: Which concerns recur, and where does the response break down?
- AFTER CARE
Keep the next step within reach.
Recover · Stay connected
Respond: Provide approved follow-up guidance and route questions to the appropriate team.
Learn: Where do patients and caregivers need clearer guidance or earlier support?
Review the response. Refine the pathway. Test the change.
Bring recurring barriers, patient feedback, and outcome trends back to the team. Adjust the message, timing, or ownership, then evaluate whether the next group of patients has a better experience.
HCAHPS cleanliness · Experience activation in practice
A concern becomes a response.
Check room cleanliness after admission, activate an EVS response, and confirm resolution while the patient is still in care.
Step 01
Ask while there is time to respond.
A short room-cleanliness check-in after admission gives the patient a way to flag a concern during the stay.
Step 02
Give the concern a clear owner.
A negative response is routed to Environmental Services (EVS). The responsible team investigates, coordinates the cleaning response, and follows the agreed escalation path if the concern remains open.
Step 03
Close the loop with the patient.
EVS addresses the concern and documents the action. A follow-up check asks the patient whether the issue is resolved; an unresolved concern is escalated and followed through during the stay.
Step 04
Connect the response to HCAHPS cleanliness.
Review response time, confirmed resolution, and repeat concerns alongside HCAHPS cleanliness scores over an agreed period. Compare with the baseline and account for other changes that may affect results.
Outcome to improve
Increased HCAHPS cleanliness scores.
Turn an in-stay cleanliness concern into timely action and a better room-cleanliness experience. Evaluate score improvement alongside faster response, patient-confirmed resolution, and fewer recurring concerns.
Illustrative workflow and messages. The admission check-in is separate from the formal HCAHPS survey. Increased scores are an intended outcome, not a guaranteed or verified result of this example. Routing, response coverage, documentation, and reporting are confirmed for each engagement.
The Activation Sprint
A clear deliverable at every stage.
The Activation Sprint is the implementation process: PatientEXP and your team agree on the work, prepare the workflow, launch a focused pilot, and review the result.
- 01
Choose Signal
Deliverable: Define the priority problem and baseline.
Client input: a sponsor, population, existing measures, and the people closest to the problem.
- 02
Map Action
Deliverable: Document the workflow, communication, accountable owner, and escalation path.
Client input: operational owners and approval of content, response expectations, and handoffs.
- 03
Build Workflow
Deliverable: Configure and test the pathway against agreed data requirements.
Client input: technical access, test scenarios, privacy review, and acceptance criteria.
- 04
Launch Pilot
Deliverable: Prepare staff and begin a focused launch with initial monitoring.
Client input: trained owners, coverage, a support route, and a launch decision.
- 05
Prove & Scale
Deliverable: Review outcomes and recommend whether to refine or expand.
Client input: baseline comparison, implementation effort, feedback, and agreed evidence standards.
Find your starting point.
Use the Experience Activation Assessment to identify a priority and bring focus to your Activation Sprint.
Start with a Trust Activation Design Session
Bring one problem. Leave with a proposed response, accountable owner, measures of success, and a next step toward a scoped Activation Sprint.
Request a Design SessionConsulting & improvement support
Apply the expertise to your existing programs.
Need additional support along the way? Explore consulting engagements tailored to your team’s priorities.
Implementation questions
Know what the work will require.
What does our team need to provide?
A sponsor and operational owner, access to the approved data and systems, content reviewers, and staff who can test and own the response. We agree on responsibilities before work begins.
What is configuration, and what needs custom development?
Configuration applies agreed content, timing, routing rules, reporting, and access to available capabilities. A new interface or capability may require separate discovery, development, testing, and scope approval.
How are staff prepared?
Plan role-specific training, realistic test scenarios, response expectations, escalation instructions, and a clear support contact before launch.
What reporting will we receive?
Agree on the baseline, measures, population, reporting views, source data, refresh cadence, and review schedule as part of the implementation scope.
What happens after launch?
Use the agreed support route, monitor the initial pathway, review unresolved issues, and evaluate outcomes. Support coverage and ongoing services are defined in the engagement.
Design the next right action