As a professional journalist, who wrote articles in hundreds of publications from the Ladies Home Journal to The Wall Street Journal, Barbara Lewis writes articles for internal hospital publications about the patient and family member experience – the good, the bad and the ugly. The goal is to tell the patient’s or family member’s story for the purpose of teaching healthcare professionals about the positive and negative impact of their actions in the hospital room.

Her articles include research results to help healthcare professionals understand the patient perspective. For example, HCAHPS survey results indicate that two groups – the young and the highly educated – generally, score communication lower than other groups. Knowing this information helps healthcare professionals identify those who may require additional communication.