Transforming Healthcare: New Book on Harnessing the Power of Social Capital

Dr. Thomas H. Lee’s new book revealing how trust and teamwork drive healthcare excellence earns a well-deserved place in the libraries of healthcare professionals

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dr. Thomas H. Lee, Chief Medical Officer of Press Ganey and Brigham and Women’s Hospital physician, announced the release of his ninth book, titled Social Capital in Healthcare: How Trust and Teamwork Drive Organizational Excellence.

In a healthcare landscape riddled with complexity, unprecedented challenges, rising care costs, and staffing shortages, Social Capital in Healthcare, published by Wiley, provides the transformative perspective that social capital, built on networks of trust and shared values, is essential for healthcare organizational success.

If financial capital and human capital determine what an organization has the potential to do, then social capital enables an organization to build resilience and reinforce positive feedback loops, leading to continuous improvement, writes Dr. Lee, also the author of Healthcare’s Path Forward and The Good Doctor.

“Dr. Lee’s Social Capital in Healthcare offers invaluable insights grounded in decades of frontline experience and his role as one of the industry’s most intuitive and visionary thought leaders,” said Patrick T. Ryan, CEO and Chairman of Press Ganey Forsta. “His message that enhancing patient care is a collective responsibility shared by everyone in a healthcare organization—not just doctors and nurses—feels especially relevant today. In this book, Dr. Lee envisions a future where teamwork, respect, and reliability build social capital, and he provides a roadmap to make it a reality.”

The book describes a new and powerful framework for improving healthcare, arguing that managers should approach the work of building reciprocity, teamwork, and high reliability with the same intensity and discipline that chief financial officers employ when managing budgets.

“Despite recent technological advancements revolutionizing the healthcare industry, many patients are still dissatisfied with the quality of care they are receiving," said Dr. Lee. “Throughout my work at Press Ganey and in my own practice, I’ve witnessed how fostering strong social connections amongst healthcare employees can create a more fulfilling experience for both patients and providers. I wrote this book to help other healthcare leaders implement change in their organization.”

By examining priorities like safety, quality, patient experience, and workforce resilience, Dr. Lee uses data and case studies from leading institutions—such as Mayo Clinic, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and Cleveland Clinic—to demonstrate that these “silos” are deeply interconnected. He argues that the best way to improve them is with a unified focus on building social capital.

The book’s official launch will take place Feb. 3 at Press Ganey’s Human Experience (HX25) conference, an annual event for industry leaders to discover the latest breakthroughs in health and technology impacting the patient and the healthcare workforce.

Dr. Lee will debut the book in a keynote panel discussion with leaders at Beth Israel Lahey Health, Harvard Medical School, Jefferson Health, Parkland Health, and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

Social Capital in Healthcare is now available for purchase on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop, Books-a-Million, and Porchlight.

About Press Ganey

Press Ganey partners with healthcare providers and health plans to improve the experiences of their patients and workforce by marrying data with unparalleled technology and expertise. Our HX platform unites and enlivens disparate data, enabling clients to gather, analyze, visualize, and act on key insights to retain employees and ensure the care journey is accessible, safe, equitable, and patient-centered. We are the trusted partner to over 41,000 healthcare provider organizations globally and 85% of health plans in the United States. Press Ganey is a PG Forsta company.

About PG Forsta

PG Forsta is a leading provider of experience measurement, data analytics and insights for healthcare and other complex industries. Our Press Ganey healthcare suite is the most widely adopted experience, clinical and safety solutions for providers, payers and life sciences organizations. Our Human Experience platform for enterprises, which includes an award-winning “voice of the customer” solution, powers the world’s leading brands and 9 out of 10 global market research agencies.