Adrienne Boissy

Adrienne Boissy Profile

Adrienne Boissy, MD, MA, is the Chief Medical Officer of Qualtrics. In this role, she shapes the strategic direction of patient and employee experience in the healthcare industry, including technology design, research, consulting, and innovation in experience management. She is the former Chief Experience Officer of the Cleveland Clinic Health System and a current staff neurologist at the Cleveland Clinic Mellen Center for Multiple Sclerosis. During her tenure at Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Boissy led strategic, international initiatives to improve every aspect of a patient’s encounter with healthcare – from their physical comfort to their educational, financial emotional and spiritual needs. She created evidence-based relationship-centered communication skills training, which serves as a global standard for healthcare, and revolutionized the conversation on patient experience measurement.

Dr. Boissy previously co-chaired the Empathy and Innovation summit, the largest independent summit on patient experience in the world. She serves as Editor Emeritus of the Journal of Patient Experience and on the advisory boards for Option B and HIMSS Media. She publishes extensively about patient experience innovation and metrics, telehealth, burnout, digital design, and empathy in healthcare, and advocates for major operational changes in healthcare systems for a more humane experience, noted in her TED talk “Can empathy help heal healthcare?” In a comprehensive NEJM Catalyst piece, she proposed an innovative overhaul of experience measurement in a digital, post-COVID world. She co-edited “Communication the Cleveland Clinic Way: How to Drive a Relationship-Centered Strategy for Superior Patient Experience.” A compelling speaker and thought leader, she has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, NPR, The Washington Post, Forbes, and The Atlantic, among others.

Dr. Boissy earned her Doctor of Medicine from the Penn State College of Medicine and
Bachelor’s degree from Boston University. She completed a Master’s degree in Bioethics from
Case Western Reserve University and trained in advanced design thinking from IDEO. A Har-
vard Macy scholar, she is internationally recognized as a leading physician executive and health-
care industry pioneer.

Dr. Boissy was awarded a Sylvia Lawry Fellowship grant from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and an Arnold P. Gold Foundation grant for humanism in medicine. She also serves on the editorial board of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s Momentum Magazine.

Dr. Boissy also is a Harvard Macy scholar. She has spoken extensively around the country about the patient and provider experience and the impact of effective communication on both.

Dr. Boissy attended Boston University and worked in neurobiological research at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston. She completed her medical school training at Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine and finished her neurology residency and neuroimmunology fellowship at Cleveland Clinic. She completed a master’s degree in bioethics from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland.