Advancing Healthcare Experience and Outcomes
Seattle Children’s is deeply committed to health equity by improving healthcare experiences and outcomes for patients, their families and team members.
Seattle Children’s focuses on what matters most: the children and families they serve and the team members who care for and support them. Patients are the heart of Seattle Children’s mission. Improving health equity at Seattle Children’s is rooted in improving patient access, health outcomes, and patient and family experience, with an emphasis on health literacy.
2025 Progress Highlights
Seattle Children’s efforts to advance healthcare experience and outcomes led to measurable impact across many outcome areas. Tracking progress reveals what's working and what needs improvement. Seattle Children's honors the progress made while staying focused on continued growth. Since 2021, we've tracked our progress annually — this 2025 report reflects our continued commitment to meaningful change.
Easing Families’ Way
When Alaska Native families travel hundreds of miles for care, even small gestures can make a big difference. Program Manager Shannon Reynolds and Cultural Navigator Nea Hubbard are helping ease the journey.
Families Training Doctors
Families are helping shape the next generation of providers through a one-of-a-kind program built on empathy and lived experience.
Building Trust Through Shared Language
Drs. Juliana Bonilla-Velez and Jimenez created the nation's first Spanish Otolaryngology Clinic, while Dr. Alicia Henriquez leads Spanish neurology care. Learn how speaking the same language is transforming outcomes for families.
Supporting Career Paths that Strengthen Teams and Patient Care
As interim director of Seattle Children's Workforce Development and Planning team, Seanna Ruvkun leads efforts to cultivate future talent, build meaningful career paths and ensure teams can deliver exceptional care. Learn how Ruvkun's team keeps workforce members engaged, respected and valued.
Valuing Family Experiences
Families have a unique and valuable perspective supporting their children in and out of the hospital. Seattle Children’s Family Advisor Program partners with families to improve care for all.
Outcome Measures
Seattle Children's celebrates the progress that has been made while remaining open to learning and improving where growth is still needed.
Adaptive Social Response
Reduce the use of the most restrictive interventions from 27.1% to less than or equal to 26.2% by increasing the use of Adaptive Social Response.
Goal: 26.2%
15.2%
of most restrictive interventions used
Continued, increased use of proactive, supportive interventions helped achieve the goal, with deeper analyses revealing more improvement opportunities.
Workforce Metric
Reduce first-year turnover rate by 10%, from 25.9% to 23%, to ensure quality health outcomes.
Goal: 23%
26.5%
of first-year turnover rate
The goal was not met, and retention prioritization continues. Feedback informs improvements including enhanced leadership rounding, new communication tools and ongoing leadership development to grow retention skills.
Family Experience Survey
The Family Experience Survey (FES) from Press Ganey achieves an overall average score of 83%.
Goal: 83%
82.6%
patients families likely to recommend Seattle Children's
While continuing to improve compared to the prior year, this year’s goal was not met. Efforts will maintain a focus on improving teamwork that contributes toseamless care. Scores vary widely by care area with many areas meeting or exceeding goals, including the Emergency Department, Day Surgery and Inpatient.
Social Determinants of Health (SDOH)
Achieve 80% SDOH questionnaire completion by seen patients.
Goal: 80%
90.8%
of patients screened
SDOH screening surpassed the goal. Additionally, the focus to increase the number of community-based organizations (CBOs) in the community services referral network by 5% was exceeded with 17.12% growth and 6,110 available CBOs.
Strategic Plan
Complete all strategic plan projects that directly support a goal that advances patient healthcare experiences and outcomes.
Goal: Projects completed by FY25 end
100%
completed
All projects were identified and achieved individual goals with impacts on patient care and workforce and engagement, providing visibility into and accountability for healthcare experience and outcome goals.
Seattle Children's fiscal year is Oct. 1 through Sept. 30. Data as of Sept. 30, 2025.
Data Snapshot
Seattle Children’s aims to better serve the patients and families they serve — no matter their language, insurance or payment type or socio-economic conditions. See progress in the data below.
Top 5 Languages Spoken by Patients/Families Other Than English
⏺ 7.1% Spanish, n=15,376
⏺ 0.5% Ukrainian, n=1082
⏺ 0.4% Mandarin, n=954
⏺ 0.4% Russian, n=947
⏺ 0.4% Somali, n=907
Languages used represents "Languages for Care" and the families' need.
Total of 120 languages used by patients/families
Payer Type FY25
⏺ 45.6% Commercial
⏺ 50.6% Medicaid/Healthy Options
⏺ 0.3% Self-Pay/Financial Aid
⏺ 3.5% Other Government
Footnote: Payer type reflects individual encounters, not distinct patients. All locations (not just WA).
Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Screening in FY25
% Patients Screened = 90.8%, n = 145,202
Of the patients screened, % reported at risk for:
⏺ 21.7% Financial Resource Strain, n=31,531
⏺ 15% Food Insecurity, n=21,830
⏺ 11.6% Housing Insecurity, n=16,897
⏺ 5% Transportation Needs, n=7,275
Leadership and Collaboration
Seattle Children’s has an organization-wide commitment to advancing healthcare experiences and outcomes. Accountability for change lies with leaders, but progress is only possible with the efforts of our workforce and community members. Learn more about the people and groups behind Seattle Children’s work.
- Advancing Health Experiences and Outcomes Council and committees
- Center for Health Outcomes
- Seattle Children’s Connection Groups
- Jeff Sperring, chief executive officer
- Myra Gregorian, chief people officer
- Alicia Tieder, vice president, People and Culture
Looking Forward
Seattle Children's advancement of positive healthcare experiences and outcomes for all patients is woven throughout its strategic plan, quality and safety efforts, and workforce culture. The organization continues developing system-wide capabilities that identify and address gaps in access while improving outcomes for patients, families, and the workforce.
Seattle Children's celebrates the individuals and teams leading these efforts and welcomes partners at every level. From providing language-concordant care to connecting medical residents with diverse families, these efforts remove barriers, build trust, and strengthen care relationships. Significant progress has improved retention, expanded recruitment of underrepresented research participants, and strengthened executive accountability.
This work is ongoing. Seattle Children's holds its team accountable for deepening action that moves toward a future where every child has exceptional care while honoring those already leading the way.
Get Involved
Interested in supporting efforts to improve health experiences and outcomes at Seattle Children’s? We invite you to get involved.