Improving the experience for every patient and family who comes to Texas Children’s Hospital for surgery is a top priority for Dr. Larry Hollier, associate surgeon-in-chief for clinical affairs and chief of plastic surgery at Texas Children’s. Over the past two years, he has led the charge at the hospital to ensure every family feels there is no better place for their children to receive surgical care.
To honor him for his work in improving the patient experience at Texas Children’s, Press Ganey, a leading provider of patient experience management solutions, presented Hollier with the 2016 Physician of the Year award at the annual Press Ganey National Client Conference.
Members of the Ambulatory Surgery Patient Experience Workgroup and leaders throughout Texas Children’s nominated him for the award.
“Dr. Hollier is very passionate about the patient experience, and he embraces all of the different touch points that comprise a patient and family’s care experience,” said Sarah Maytum, assistant vice president of patient and family services at Texas Children’s. “In leading the Ambulatory Surgery Team, he not only sought input from front line staff, he listened, acted on their input and empowered staff members to take ownership of project implementation.”
Hollier has been responsible for leading patient experience innovations within the Department of Surgery including: same-day surgery consultation appointments, standardized pre-surgery materials, the surgery greeter program, direct scheduling for Texas Children’s Pediatrics providers and for Texas Children’s Emergency Center; surgical patient ingress/egress patterns; and a physician communication course, called Breakthrough Communications, aimed at enhancing the conversation between patients, families and caregivers. He has also been instrumental in advancing the hospital’s expertise in caring for patients with a range of complex conditions while simultaneously becoming a leader in outcomes measurement and patient experience.
Recently, the Meds to Beds program, which delivers post-surgery medications to a patient’s bedside before discharge, was highlighted in NEJM Catalyst as a highly innovative program. Meds to Beds not only enhances the surgery experience for patients and families, but has also resulted in improved pharmacist and OR staff satisfaction.
“We in the Department of Surgery are extremely proud of the extraordinary work being done at Texas Children’s to optimize the care experience of our patients and their families,” said Dr. Charles D. Fraser Jr., Texas Children’s surgeon-in-chief. “Dr. Larry Hollier has been an outstanding and visionary leader for the surgery service in partnering with Sarah Maytum and the Patient Relations team. His recognition by Press Ganey is a testimony not only to his enormous contributions, but to the effective team spirit we are so proud of in the Texas Children’s Hospital family.”
Hollier holds the S. Baron Hardy Endowed Chair in Plastic Surgery at Texas Children’s and serves as professor and chief of Plastic Surgery at Baylor College of Medicine. In addition, he is chairman of the Medical Advisory Board of Smile Train, an international children’s charity that provides free cleft repair surgery and comprehensive cleft care worldwide, and serves on the board of the Duke Global Health Institute focusing efforts on reducing health disparities. Hollier has authored more than 190 articles for scholarly and professional publications, written 37 book chapters and sits on the editorial board of numerous journals. His surgical specialties include craniofacial conditions, cleft lip and palate, and microsurgical hand repair.