Allegheny Health Network: Recognize, Reward And Reinforce Compassion in Healthcare

Overview:

Allegheny Health Network (AHN) is operationalizing compassion and love asteachable, measurable skills to elevate patient and caregiver experience. Led by patient-experience executives Barb Babula and Dr. Jean Sosa, AHN pairs education (relationship-centered communication workshops, empathy training) with data (CAHPS “rate the provider”improvements) and daily practices (leader rounding; “recognize, reward, reinforce” stories) tohardwire connection into care. The result: stronger trust, better clinical outcomes andadherence, and a proven antidote to caregiver burnout.

Leaders: Dr. Gene Scioscia (Chief Patient Experience Officer) & Barb Bobula (VP Patient Experience), Allegheny Health Network (AHN)

Framework: Integrating empathy and love into organizational systems through recognition, wellness, and emotional culture building

"Love creates just enough tension to create change."

- Barb Bobula, Vice President, Patient Experience

"We’re getting better outcomes, we’re getting healthier patients. There is no better therapy for burnout than empathy and compassion. It is the solution.”

- Eugene Scioscia, Chief Experience Officer

Goals

Embed empathy and compassion into every dimension of caregiver and patientexperience.
Reduce burnout and moral distress while strengthening relational safety.
Reinforce a culture of love-driven care through structural and emotional interventions.

Challenges

Emotional exhaustion and compassion fatigue among teams.
Clinical systems that often prioritize efficiency over human connection.
Bureaucratic controls that distance staff from relational care practices.

Key Initiatives

‘Share the Love’ Campaign

Introduced in 2021–22—simple tokens (squishy hearts), a “feel the love” playlist, andmanager-led tone-setting initiated at scale

Psychological Safety via Vulnerability

Dr. Scioscia encouraged openness—describing love as inclusive, courageous, and linked to essential human experience

Recognition And Reward Infrastructure

Staff acknowledged through storytelling, handwritten notes, and support for “heroiccare” moments—exemplified by COVID patient reunification that boosted communalempathy and resilience

Wellness And Emotional Culture Development

AHN invested in caregiver wellbeing programs alongside cultural practice shifts—treating emotional connection as a long-term system, not a campaign

Outcomes:

Quantitative

Improved staff wellbeing: lower burnout and increased engagement.
Enhanced patient experience metrics linked to compassionate interactions.

Qualitative

Caregivers reported feeling “seen,” “cared for,” and emotionally supported in their work.
Patients experienced more deeply felt connection and care.

Lessons Learned

Quantitative

Emotional culture is as critical as cognitive culture. Rituals and tokens helped shift what people feel, not just what they think
Enhanced Love empowers accountability. Vulnerability and compassion allowed space for hard conversations and trust building patient experience metrics linked to compassionate interactions.
Symbolic actions signal systemic change. A heart and a handwritten note can convey belonging more powerfully than policy