12 Patient Experience Week ideas to celebrate staff and empower patients

“The staff always makes sure I understand exactly what is going on.”

“Every member of the team who cared for me was respectful and kind.”

“I know I’m in good hands with Dr. __, and that helps decrease my anxiety.”

“Thank you for caring for my son as if he were your own family.”

Every healthcare practice hopes to receive feedback like this. But these comments don’t just happen — they reflect a business that provides a high-quality patient experience. Delivering exemplary patient service requires hard work, collaboration, empathy, and compassion — from providers and clinicians to administrative, housekeeping, and operations staff.

The Beryl Institute defines patient experience as “the sum of all interactions, shaped by an organization’s culture, that influence patient perceptions across the continuum of care.” Experience is a critical component of patient-centered care that can influence clinical outcomes, raise profitability, reduce malpractice suits — and bring in positive patient reviews.

Celebrating Patient Experience Week lets practices show appreciation for the dedicated team members who put attention and labor into making patients feel safe, comfortable, and empowered. With Patient Experience Week 2025 approaching, many practices need ideas that celebrate staff and patients while engaging potential customers and the local community.

This guide provides essential information on Patient Experience Week, with helpful planning tips, including 12 creative Patient Experience Week ideas. Practices new to participating in Patient Experience Week and those looking to level up after Patient Experience Week 2024 can use this guide to plan a standout celebration.

Patient Experience Week (PX Week) celebrates and raises awareness about the essential role of patient experience in healthcare. Every April, PX Week acknowledges healthcare employees who practice communication, collaboration, and compassion and their positive impact on patients. It also highlights how healthcare workers, patients, families, and the community contribute to and benefit from positive experiences.

Inspired by its own members, The Beryl Institute developed PX Week to encourage healthcare organizations to celebrate accomplishments and boost efforts to improve the patient experience. By sponsoring a week of fun and informative activities, organizations can honor hardworking healthcare professionals while engaging patients, staff, and community members.

Participating in PX Week shows your employees how much you appreciate the big and little ways they work to deliver exceptional patient service, and encourages them to continue making such a valuable effort. 

While aligning with the overarching goals of PX Week, independent practices can identify their own key goals to meet the needs of their patients and businesses. 

An annual theme communicates your key goals with simplicity. Your theme can guide you in selecting activities, developing a marketing strategy, and creating talking points for team members or social media posts. 

For example:

When determining your PX Week theme, keep in mind the professional, personal, and cultural needs of your staff, patients, and communities.

Although the exact dates change annually, PX Week always starts on the last Monday in April. Healthcare organizations around the world celebrate PX Week at the same time.

Patient Experience Week 2025 begins Monday, April 28, and continues through May 2, 2025. 

Proactive planning ensures that next year’s PX Week builds on your success while addressing any mistakes made during this year’s events. Planning includes strategizing about ongoing patient experience initiatives at your practice so you’ll have new accomplishments to celebrate next year. 

Things to consider during planning sessions:

Establish a flexible, year-long timeline for adequate preparation so next year’s celebration runs smoothly.

Proudly observing PX Week raises awareness about the impact of positive experiences and sends a message that the practice and team take their commitment to patient-centered care seriously. 

Celebrating PX Week in itself can enhance patient experiences by boosting employee morale and promoting meaningful patient-staff interactions outside of office visits. The week also has long-lasting benefits for team members and the business side of the practice.

Investing in PX Week encourages your practice team to prioritize empathy, communication, and patient engagement. Recognizing and rewarding compassionate care reinforces positive behaviors and sets a standard for excellence.

PX Week celebrations often include workshops and forums on topics that inform and educate healthcare staff, such as:

Patient activities typically increase their health knowledge and support more informed care decisions. 

The healthcare industry has high staff turnover — 40% for office staff and 33% for clinical support and business operations staff, leading to revenue loss of up to twice the employee's annual salary.

Research shows a connection between staff recognition, job satisfaction, and turnover. PX Week is an ideal time to recognize team members who help patients feel seen, heard, and valued, while enhancing team communication and supporting a positive work environment.

Elevate the connection between your team and the patients they serve with these unique Patient Experience Week ideas. Also consider using The Beryl Institute’s templates and marketing resources and sharing their annual “I am the Patient Experience” video when creating your events.

Consider dedicating one day of PX Week to activities designed just for patients. Patient Appreciation Day events can focus on education, chronic disease management, care team  communication, or other practice-specific goals. 

Keep patients laughing and enjoying themselves with door prizes, games, swag giveaways, karaoke with providers — anything light-hearted that balances out more serious activities.

Remember those comments at the beginning of this article? PX Week can help your patients provide feedback and also provide an opportunity to share widely. You’ll need to select activities or installations that make it easy for patients to tell their stories, such as: 

Ask people to write a positive comment on a piece of paper and place it in a large bowl. At a patient-staff roundtable, draw random remarks and discuss what worked and why. 

Set up an extra-large bulletin board in the lobby and invite patients to write comments and pin them up for all to see throughout the week. 

After PX Week: periodically share your favorite stories on social media, your website, blog, or newsletter. You can choose whether to anonymize comments or ask for names (but ask for permission before sharing attributed comments, and ensure patient testimonials are HIPAA-compliant).

Throughout PX Week, ask practice leadership to deliver spontaneous, heartfelt shout-outs to team members, ideally in the presence of other staff. Be sure to shout out office and operations staff as well as clinicians. 

Shout-outs can happen during huddles, meetings, shift changes, or whenever staff gather. Saying something as simple as “Hey Carrie, thanks so much for keeping our clinic fresh and clean!” can make a lasting impression. 

Consider sponsoring or hosting an event like a health fair, workshop, or information session.

Bolster staff education with patient experience events during PX Week. You can hire a consultant or use an online resource to design your own PX training, such as this free one from Prezi. 

A "Share Your Story" booth fosters deeper understanding between patients and healthcare professionals. Patients share their perspective of the healthcare journey; staff describe what goes into effective healthcare services.

To create a successful “Share Your Story” booth:

Take care to respect the privacy of staff and patients. Be transparent about what happens with any footage or files, allow participants to remain anonymous, and ask permission before sharing their stories.

Offering a provider Q&A during PX Week allows patients to learn more about the skills and responsibilities of care professionals. Insight into the provider’s expertise and humanity helps build patient trust, strengthening the provider-patient bond.

An interactive display of real patient comments helps staff see the impact of their work from the patient’s perspective.

Pull patient quotes and create other ways patients can contribute their thoughts, like this “When I am a Patient” board or “Advice from a Patient” poster. Post these along a path that both staff and patients travel through. Use cut-out speech bubbles, bold text, and bright colors to underscore what patients think, feel, and need — and why it matters. 

PX Week is an excellent opportunity to inform patients about any updates you’ve made that will make practice visits more comfortable, safe, and convenient. 

Examples of updates include:

Comfort can also refer to tools and technology that make things easier, such as a remote check-in option or a patient app that streamlines provider messaging and telehealth appointments.

Show patients your appreciation and encourage new business with special PX Week offers or services. Patients are more likely to add more services or return for another visit when they receive a discount or freebie. Offering those perks for bringing a friend to PX Week is a great way to spread the word about your business while demonstrating that the practice genuinely cares about patients and staff.

Everyone loves getting something for free, including a health screening or exam. This can generate new business, spur established customers to schedule more visits, and encourage hesitant patients to participate in preventive care.

Another option is to offer a free patient seminar. Topic examples include:

Seminars can help grow your business and support values-based care through patient education. 

Partnering with a local business engages the community and adds variety, making PX Week more memorable. 

Practices can forge successful partnerships with many types of businesses and organizations, including: 

Businesses can donate goods or services as gifts for employees or as a patient giveaway. Business owners can share their expertise in a live Q&A or blog post.

Assemble simple, educational take-away kits with helpful resources and tips for patients. Include printouts or reference cards about stress management, healthy habits, or condition-specific guidance. Include useful links, QR codes, or contact information. These packs can help educate patients while affirming your role as a supportive, knowledgeable care provider. 

Fostering exceptional patient experience isn’t a goal with a clear finish line. Instead, it's a continuous journey requiring dedication and adaptability. The journey asks practices and healthcare professionals to commit and re-commit to compassion, communication, self-awareness, and cultural competence. 

PX Week offers a time of awareness and enthusiasm, but its principles should inform care delivery each day of the year. When practices cultivate an environment where patients feel supported, understood, and valued, everyone wins.