(LIVE BLOG from Rewiring Healthcare: Foundation to Future, April 28-29, in Atlanta, GA)

If you’ve ever watched someone do their job and thought, wow, they really get it, you know exactly what Lisa Reich is talking about.

Lisa has spent nearly 40 years in nursing, and somewhere along the way she became fascinated by a simple question: what separates the caregivers who truly connect with patients from the ones who just go through the motions? The answer, she’s found, isn’t about credentials or clinical knowledge. It’s about behavior—and behavior, she’ll tell you, is a language.

In her session Rewiring the Patient Experience (HCE Overview: Belonging), Lisa shared the insights she’s gathered from decades of watching, coaching, and leading. Here are the highlights.

Everyone has a “slide two.” Lisa opens every talk the same way: with a personal photo. Her “slide two” is a collage—her mom as a 1950s nurse, her daughter, her son in Fargo, her grandkids, her husband Raj, and yes, a dog named Yoda.

The point isn’t sentimentality. It’s a reminder that every person you interact with—a colleague, a patient, a family member—has their own slide two. Their own world they’re carrying around with them. When you walk into a patient’s room ready to talk care plans, they might be mentally somewhere else entirely. Acknowledging that human context is where real connection begins.

Behavior is a language. Are you fluent? Lisa describes watching food service workers deliver trays and being struck by the difference between the ones who “have it” and the ones who don’t. The mechanics might be identical, but something in the delivery is completely different.

She boils that difference down to five areas every leader should be coaching their teams on:

1. Voice volume and tone.The average age of hospital patients has climbed significantly—today it skews between 57 and 62, with a growing number over 85. Patients are often leaning against pillows, which muffles sound. Speaking clearly and with appropriate volume isn’t a nicety; it’s a clinical necessity. And tone? It can change the entire temperature of an interaction.
2. Smiling and pausing.It sounds almost too simple, but Lisa is serious about this one. A genuine smile—even a brief pause to make eye contact—can transform a transactional moment into a human one. The problem is that caregivers under pressure often forget to do it, not because they don’t care, but because they’re focused on a thousand other things at once.
3. Body language.Lisa admits she’s an introvert who defaults to crossed arms when she doesn’t know what to do with her hands. That’s fine at a dinner party. Not so much when you’re standing at a patient’s bedside. The way we hold our bodies signals whether we’re open or closed, present or distracted. Getting all the way into the room and facing the patient heart-to-heart before launching into a conversation—that’s a small change with a big impact.
4. Proximity.How many times have you seen a caregiver begin talking the moment their foot crosses the threshold of a patient’s room? The patient doesn’t even register who they’re talking to. Getting physically present before speaking isn’t just polite, it’s effective.
5. Eye contact.Lisa once took a group of nursing students in to do an abdominal assessment. Afterward, she asked them: what color were the patient’s eyes? Not a single one knew. They were so focused on the task that they missed the person. Eye contact creates trust. It tells someone: I see you, not just your chart.

There is power in showing up, paying attention to the little things, and treating every interaction like it counts. Because according to Lisa Reich, it does.

About Lisa Reich: Partner, Speaker, Healthcare Plus Solutions Group

Lisa Reich has experience in leading, working, and consulting in healthcare for over three decades. She has experience as a Registered Nurse in many settings and capabilities that reach clinical, non-clinical, financial, and administrative branches.

During her tenure with Studer Group/Huron, Lisa led coaching engagements for organizations ranging from critical access to large academic health systems. In working with a broad spectrum of organizations, she is able to adapt a strategy that works for organizations to achieve outcomes.

She has worked extensively with many types of healthcare organizations including acute care, ambulatory, emergency/urgent care, medical practices, behavioral health, and substance use treatment centers.

Speaking to inspire, Lisa uses real-life experiences to connect training for audiences that are applicable to their current work. She focuses on being human and using her strengths to give back to others. Her passion for better healthcare has impacted hundreds of organizations, thousands of caregivers, and even more patients.

Lisa joined Healthcare Plus Solutions Group (HPSG) to bring enhanced solutions to the healthcare industry. The mission of the organization is to have a positive impact on those that receive care and those that provide care. HPSG specializes in helping healthcare organizations diagnose and treat their most urgent pain points in order to achieve and sustain results.