Katie Owens

Co-Founder and President Healthcare Experience Foundation

Katie believes that the way we deliver and receive healthcare matters—not just for the patients, but for the caregivers, the providers, and administration, too.

As President of the Healthcare Experience Foundation, Katie is taking bold steps to assure that every organization has access to resources for engaging patients and developing their workforce to achieve results. Katie is an innovator, implementing new ways to deliver the best in patient-centered care.

She has influenced hundreds of organizations and thousands of leaders to equip their cultures and instill competencies that create environments of person-centered excellence. Her fundamental tenet is that every person is worthy of an environment where they feel confident in receiving and delivering the best possible care. Known as a leader among leaders, Katie previously served on the HealthStream Leadership Team as Vice President of the Engagement Institute. She also served on the Baptist Health Care (BHC) leadership team in Pensacola, Florida, where she supported the system’s sustained journey to excellence. Katie has led teams of expert coaches dedicated to improving the quality of the patient experience and has been instrumental in creating leading-edge learning assets to support patient experience competencies. She is most proud of having grown Baptist Leadership Group to one of the most respected healthcare coaching practices in the country before being acquired by HealthStream in 2013.

Katie is the lead author of The HCAHPS Imperative for Creating Patient-Centered Excellence and is currently writing her second book about the importance of speaking the patient’s language. She is frequently quoted and has been published in the Huffington Post, Healthcare Financial Management Magazine and Hospitals and Health Networks. She is an energetic, internationally-recognized speaker and has presented for many highly-respected organizations, including American College of Healthcare Executives, Beryl Institute, Cleveland Clinic’s Empathy Summit, Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development, and Healthcare Financial Management Association.

Day 2: From Insight to Impact: Operationalizing Patient Experience

2:30 PM Track C: Panel: Partners in PX: Strengthening Collaboration Between Physicians and PX Leadership

Achieving exceptional patient experience requires a collaborative partnership between physicians and patient experience teams. Panelists will share real-world examples of successful collaborations, address common challenges, and provide actionable insights on how to align physician practices with patient experience goals to drive improved outcomes and satisfaction.

Identify effective communication strategies to bridge the gap between physicians and PX teams, fostering open dialogue and mutual respect
Discover methods for aligning physician practices with patient experience goals, promoting shared ownership and accountability for PX outcomes
Explore practical approaches to overcome common challenges in physician-PX team collaboration, such as time constraints, differing priorities, and cultural differences

3:00 PM Track C: Panel Remix (Audience Breakout): Strengthening Collaboration Between Physicians and PX Leadership

Following the main panel, this quick-turn breakout invites attendees to dive deeper into the realities of building strong, trust-based partnerships between physicians and patient experience teams. In small groups, participants will reflect on the insights shared, discuss their own collaboration challenges, and trade practical approaches for creating better alignment, communication, and shared ownership of PX outcomes. This interactive session helps translate big ideas into actionable strategies grounded in day-to-day experience.

Small-Group Discussion Prompts:

• Where do collaboration and communication between physicians and PX teams most often break down in your organization, and what practices help bridge those gaps?

• How are you building shared ownership of PX goals across clinical and non-clinical teams, and what incentives, workflows, or accountability models have been most effective?

• What structures or cultural shifts would help strengthen mutual understanding, respect, and partnership between physicians and PX leadership?

Check out the incredible speaker line-up to see who will be joining Katie.

Download The Latest Agenda