By including patients’ hobbies, favorites pets, and other personal information in medical records, clinicians are better able to interact with them and see the whole person.
Credit: NYU Langone
If you could share something about yourself that captures who you are, what would it be? This is an exercise that NYU Langone Health now offers to patients, and it’s already enhancing care.
The spark for this initiative, which officially launched this year, began in 2013, when NYU Langone was preparing to become one of the first major health systems to go live with Epic, the electronic health record system. In the shadow of rebuilding from Hurricane Sandy, Paul A. Testa, MD, chief health informatics officer, bumped into Katherine Hochman, MD, director of the .
“As we’re going live with Epic, how do we make sure we include the patient voice?” asked Dr. Testa.
Dr. Hochman’s recommendation was personal: “If I ever get admitted, I want everybody to know I’m a mom, a German shepherd fanatic, a bibliophile, and a doctor.”
Evidence shows that and patient engagement, and can lead to better health for patients.
“We deliver exceptional care in shorter and shorter lengths of stay, which means there’s less time to connect with patients in meaningful ways. That’s the real challenge,” said Dr. Hochman.
As a hospitalist who meets up to 18 new patients every day, Dr. Hochman practices a “slow down to speed up” philosophy. She takes a moment at the beginning of each encounter to try to get to know each patient as a person outside the hospital.
“Asking simple questions about their lives before you get to the ‘meat’ of the interview really helps melt the anxiety, frustration, and sometimes anger that comes from being in a hospital,” Dr. Hochman said. “I recognize that I have just a couple seconds to connect with a patient. It’s a critical moment in a hospital stay that must be recognized as such. We’re complete strangers, and suddenly you have to trust me. I needed that moment of connection. And when we do connect, you’re no longer the heart failure in bed five. You’re the botanist who rehabilitates orchids.”
While Dr. Hochman captured this personal connection in her notes, this individual effort was not scalable. A sustainable solution required the expertise of the clinical informatics team.
Leveraging already integrated technology, NYU Langone’s clinical informatics team, including Kerry O’Brien, MPH, RN, senior director of clinical systems and nursing informatics, along with the Medical Center Information Technology’s Department of Health Informatics, crafted an About Me prompt in Epic:
- “We want to get to know you as a person, not just a patient.”
- “What you should know about me is:”
O’Brien’s team saw that responses fell into five main themes: hobbies and interests, family, personal and cultural identity, career, and beloved pets. Responses were often simple statements, such as “I love plants.” “My wife is pregnant with twins.” “I’m a first-generation Haitian American.” “I listen to salsa music all the time.”
The number of patients choosing to share reflects a need to be known and understood when you are in a vulnerable moment.
“We’re bringing this data into the electronic health record, which is then visible to every clinician who opens the chart,” said Jared Silberlust, MD, a clinical informatics fellow who is publishing research on the initiative. “Now, everybody who cares for you, whether they just met you today or whether they’ll know you forever, can have that information and connect with you.”
These responses are sometimes the discoveries that allow the best care to happen. Dr. Silberlust describes a patient who was unwilling to start dialysis treatment for end-stage kidney disease. When his doctor learned through About Me that the patient had been a New York City bus driver for 20 years, he was able to connect with the patient about his service to the city, and suddenly the patient’s entire demeanor shifted. He became open to discussing treatment and ultimately agreed to the dialysis that would keep him alive.
Dr. Silberlust also highlighted a patient dying of pancreatic cancer whose son was about to enter medical school. The White Coat Ceremony, which formally marks matriculation, wasn’t 鶹Ƶd until August, but it was June and time was running out. The medical team arranged for an early ceremony to take place in the patient’s home, allowing him to witness his son’s milestone before passing just days later.
Even simpler connections can create ripple effects. A patient who mentioned loving crossword puzzles found her entire care team contributing to puzzles during their visits, making what was an isolating medical experience an opportunity for connection.
The initiative has had a secondary effect of rekindling the sense of purpose that drew healthcare professionals to medicine in the first place.
“Every time I read it, I get emotional,” Dr. Testa said. “There is no way to look at these and not get emotional, and you see your patients in uniquely personal ways.”
For Dr. Hochman, the impact is both personal and professional. “It made my joy of practice swell. I am—more than ever—rooting for this botanist in bed five because I want her to get back to her orchids.”
Patients who don’t feel seen as full human beings may be less likely to follow treatment recommendations, less forthcoming about symptoms, and less engaged in their own care. “Missed opportunities to connect with your patients are missed opportunities to deliver optimal care,” said Dr. Testa. “This is the very definition of patient-centered care.”
The response from both patients and clinicians was immediate. The initiative has generated more than 1,000 entries, with some units achieving 80 percent participation rates among patients. Nurses have embraced the program, currently accounting for 90 percent of entries being collected and entered and are using them to forge stronger bonds in fast-paced settings.
“The enthusiasm of the operational staff has been great,” said O’Brien. “I am hearing people are really excited about how they used the information to connect with patients. When people express themselves, it is a clue into what they value, and incorporating that insight is what we want for all patients.”
Since its pilot launch across 12 units, About Me has expanded to 35 units total, with demand continuing to grow throughout NYU Langone. Once the program is deployed across all inpatient units, NYU Langone will extend it to its ambulatory encounters in 2026.
Media Inquiries
Arielle Sklar
Phone: 646-960-2696
Arielle.Sklar@NYULangone.org
