Dr. James Merlino

James Merlino, MD, has been the Chief Experience Officer of the Cleveland Clinic health system, as well as a practicing staff colorectal surgeon in the Digestive Disease Institute. He is the founder and current president of the Association for Patient Experience. As a member of the Clinic’s executive team, he led initiatives to improve the patient experience across the Cleveland Clinic Health System. In addition he also led efforts to improve physician-patient communication, patient access, and referring physician relations. Partnering with key members of the Clinic leadership team, he helped to improve communication with physicians and employees, and to drive employee engagement strategies. He speaks to boards, c-suite leaders and physicians around the world on the important issues of culture, patientexperience, and leading change. Dr. Merlino was named to HealthLeaders magazine’s 2013 list of “20 people who make healthcare better” and is a recognized world leader in the emerging field of patient experience. Dr. Merlino’s wife, Amy, is a maternal-fetal medicine specialist at Cleveland Clinic.

His book, Service Fanatics: How to Build Superior Patient Experience the Cleveland Clinic Way, was published by McGraw-Hill (2014). In January (2015), he transitioned from the Clinic to Press Ganey at which he serves as president and Chief Medical Officer of its strategic consulting operations.