NGPX 2025
November 17 - 19, 2025
Westin Rancho Mirage, Palm Springs, CA
Dec. 2 - Agenda Day 2: Humanizing the Experience: Support and Compassion for Patients, Employees and Families
7:00 am - 8:00 am
Registration and Networking Breakfast
8:00 am - 8:10 am
Welcome Remarks & Ice Breaker
Charleen Ring, Event Director, NGPX
8:10 am - 8:20 am
Chairperson's Opening Remarks
“Patient” Lee Tomlinson -
Founder & Chief Inspirer,
The Compassion Heals Movement
8:20 am - 8:40 am
Panel: Faculty Professionalism and Wellbeing
Keith Gran -
Chief Patient Experience Officer,
Michigan Medicine
Kathy Denton -
Director, Office of Patient Experience,
MD Anderson Cancer Center
Barbara Burnes -
Director of Workforce Development & Service Excellence,
Atrium Health/Floyd
Peggy Greco, PhD -
Chief Patient Experience Officer,
Nemours Children's Health
For our Day 2 opening panel, we will be examining how health systems can create a culture that supports faculty professionalism, and above all, employee wellbeing. Our employees are on the front-lines, and while burnout has always been a very real concern, we saw it more than ever during the pandemic. Our panelists will share and discuss their most recent initiatives to address faculty wellbeing and professionalism.
- What are key elements of faculty professionalism?
- How are we addressing employee wellbeing?
- Discuss lessons learned, successes and pitfalls during 2020 and beyond
Where do we go from here?
8:40 am - 8:50 am
Panel Q&A
8:50 am - 9:10 am
Keynote: Physician Engagement - A Chief Medical and Experience Officer Perspective
Paul Sternberg -
Chief Experience Officer,
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Physician engagement is essential to staff and patient satisfaction, as well as clinician retention and performance. With physician burnout at an all-time high, it is critical that your organization have deliberate and well-conceived tactics to improve engagement and reduce burnout. In this presentation, the CXO of VUMC, Paul Sternberg will:
- Talk about one medical center’s multi-year journey to address this issue
- Explore what approaches were most successful
- Discuss the most challenging hurdles that still remain
9:10 am - 9:35 am
Rethinking Patient Experience: Mayo Clinic’s Journey
Thomas G. Howell MD -
Vice Chair, Medical Director for Patient Experience,
Mayo Clinic Health System
Tripp Welch -
Vice Chair of Quality,
Mayo Clinic
9:35 am - 9:55 am
Case Study: Engaging Leadership in a New Way with PX Training and Facilitation Techniques
Amy Searls -
Chief Experience Officer,
Prime Healthcare
After the past year and a half, it’s hard to know where to focus. This session will look at engaging leaders in a new and fresh way; to capture their hearts and drive performance during complex times using a leader/coach model. Amy will provide some tried and true steps to develop frontline leaders and staff. She will share how to form solid relationships and establish credibility to create a stronger culture focused on doing the “right thing” for our patients and each other.
9:55 am - 10:05 am
PX Credits
Jessica Barker -
Director, Certification and Continuing Education,
The PX Institute
10:05 am - 10:45 am
Bake Shop Networking Break in the Xperience Lounge
10:45 am - 11:05 am
Using Practical AI for Patient Experience to Create Moments that Matter
Patty Hayward -
Head of Provider and Payer Strategy,
Talkdesk
Patient experience has never been more important, as consumer expectations for convenient and connected service rise and tailored digital interactions become the norm. From quality ratings shifts to increased market competition and consolidation, building better relationships with patients is now a strategic priority. Join this session to learn about new research on patient preferences, and hear how providers are finding ways to synchronize and personalize patient touchpoints in a differentiated journey.
11:05 am - 11:30 am
Case Study: Driving a Consistent Service Framework at Scale
Alexander Greengold -
SVP, Chief Consumer Experience Officer,
Memorial Hermann Health System
Jennifer Bloomfield -
System Director, Consumer Experience,
Memorial Hermann Health System
Building a culture of service excellence: A consistent service framework was developed and rolled out to 30K employees, partners, vendors, affiliates, physicians, etc. this year. This was no small feat, as we worked with our friends at the Disney Institute to help develop this playbook where a service commitment statement, standards and behaviors were introduced and will be reinforced for the long-haul. I will share what Memorial Hermann did and early results as we will still be in the middle of our rollouts at the time of the conference
11:30 am - 11:50 am
Case Study: New Framework for Connection: 6H Model to Improve Patient Experience
Swati Mehta -
Director of Quality & Performance Patient Experience,
Vituity
Join Dr. Swati Mehta, CPXP to learn more about the new 6H Framework : A new model to connect with patients. Deploying this framework in addition to a targeted service recovery approach led to tangible & sustained improvement in an emergency department’s patient experience scores as well as clinician wellbeing in the middle of the pandemic.
11:50 am - 12:10 pm
Engaging the Frontline in Improving the Patient Experience
Seona Goerndt -
Director, Office of Patient Experience,
Metro Health
Learn how the industry’s top CXO’s are expanding their leadership influence in the new era of healthcare. Chrissy will share the top 5 strategies being used to evolve the landscape of patient experience and shape the future.
Wellness Break
1:10 pm - 1:40 pm Terrace Meet-Up: Closing Health Equity Gaps in Patient Experience Torrie Harris - Health & Equity Strategist, New Orleans Health Department Peggy Greco, PhD - Chief Patient Experience Officer, Nemours Children's Health
Wellness Break
1:10 pm - 1:40 pm Optional Email Break – Free TimeWe know, today has been a lot for your brain to take in! Please feel free to use this 30-minute break as a guilt-free way to check up on emails, make some phone calls, or do whatever it is you’d like to do!
1:10- Kick-off
3:10- Break
3:50 – CXO Panel on main stage
By Invite-Only (open to 25 CXOs from hospital and health organizations)
This year, we’ve extended our CXO think tank into a CXO Retreat! Sit down with your fellow CXOs to discuss your top challenges in a serene, private, closed-door setting for the entire afternoon.
C-Suite Retreat Day 2
1:10 pm - 2:20 pm C-Suite Retreat Day 2C-Suite Retreat Day 2
Moderated by:
Adrienne Boissy, Chief Experience Officer, Cleveland Clinic
1:10- Kick-off
3:10- Break
3:50 – CXO Panel on main stage
By Invite-Only (open to 25 CXOs from hospital and health organizations)
This year, we’ve extended our CXO think tank into a CXO Retreat! Sit down with your fellow CXOs to discuss your top challenges in a serene, private, closed-door setting for the entire afternoon.
Track A: Terrace Meet-Up: Closing Health Equity Gaps in Patient Experience Join our Health Equity executives and PX leaders for this important conversation. Torrie Harris Peggy Greco, Medical Director of Patient Experience, Nemours Children's Health System Track A – Deep-Dive Case Study Interactive
1:40 pm - 2:00 pm Deep-Dive Case Study – Using Employee Stories to Guide Organizational Alignment and Culture Building Craig Loundas - Associate Vice President, Penn Medicine Experience, Penn MedicineOne of the most powerful ways to engage your employees is by sharing their real life stories of success, struggles and accomplishments. Penn Medicine continues to work on building its organizational culture and alignment through capturing and publishing employee stories in a variety of ways. In this session, we’ll explore:
- How to leverage the power and neuroscience of story-telling
- Techniques to highlight employees with a link to system-wide initiatives in print and digital formats.
- Capture the voice of employees , patients and families to drive engagement through recorded stories.
Track A: Terrace Meet-Up: Closing Health Equity Gaps in Patient Experience Join our Health Equity executives and PX leaders for this important conversation. Torrie Harris Peggy Greco, Medical Director of Patient Experience, Nemours Children's Health System Track A – Deep-Dive Case Study Interactive
2:00 pm - 2:20 pm Discussion – Group Breakouts Craig Loundas - Associate Vice President, Penn Medicine Experience, Penn MedicineTrack B: Deep-Dive Case Study Interactive
1:40 pm - 2:00 pm Deep-Dive Case Study –Empowering Non-Clinical/Support Employees to Contribute to an Exceptional Patient Experience – It’s More Than Customer Service Training! Liz Nix - Director, Service Quality & Development, Patient Access, Vanderbilt University Medical Center- Non-clinical front line and support staff can help or hinder your patient experience strategy – do they have the resources they need and are they empowered to act for the patient?
- Routine communication is key – do your clinical and non-clinical staff have a shared understanding of how the health system operates (services offered, where to refer internally), where and when to document additional detail to provide more context, and how to escalate questions for rapid resolution
- Process mapping and stakeholder narratives can provide a wealth of information on pain points related to system access, financial services, and care coordination – your support staff know what is frustrating patients
Liz Nix
Director, Service Quality & Development, Patient AccessVanderbilt University Medical Center
Track B: Deep-Dive Case Study Interactive
2:00 pm - 2:20 pm Discussion – Group Breakouts Liz Nix - Director, Service Quality & Development, Patient Access, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Liz Nix
Director, Service Quality & Development, Patient AccessVanderbilt University Medical Center
2:20 pm - 3:00 pm
Sweet & Savory Afternoon Networking & Refreshment Break in the Xperience Lounge
Join us for homemade Pop Tarts and Hot Pockets!
3:00 pm - 3:40 pm
CXO Report Interactive Panel
Adrienne Boissy -
Chief Medical Officer, Qualtrics, Staff Neurologist and former CXO,
Cleveland Clinic
Cristobal Kripper -
Chief Patient Experience Officer,
CHRISTUS Health
Cassandra Crowe-Jackson -
Chief Experience Officer,
Sharp HealthCare
Christine Cunningham -
Executive Director and Chief Experience Officer,
El Camino Health
Amy Searls -
Chief Experience Officer,
Prime Healthcare
Our CXOs will discuss their key takeaways from the C-Suite Retreat, followed by a 10-minute Q&A.
Adrienne Boissy
Chief Medical Officer, Qualtrics, Staff Neurologist and former CXOCleveland Clinic
4:20 pm - 4:50 pm
Audience Interactive Session: Show and Tell!
During the inaugural ‘Share Your Successes’ interactive session at NGPX, the audience will spend ten minutes in small groups. During those ten minutes, each audience member will be asked to share a recent PX success they’ve had with their group (successes big and small welcome!) After ten minutes is up, each group will be asked to pick a group representative to share whatever their particular success was in a brief minute long report back in front of the entire audience