The National Capital Region (NCR) Market developed this digital toolkit to communicate with active duty service members and eligible beneficiaries about the availability of the NCR Patient Guidebook. The NCR Market Patient Guidebook will assist with navigating the NCR Market integrated network of care. The toolkit provides information and resources to conduct a local education campaign for active duty service members and eligible beneficiaries in your geographic area about services throughout the network.
Background
Patient satisfaction is an NCR priority and is an important measure of health care effectiveness. In late summer of 2020, the Clinical Optimization Team sought to better understand, across all NCR military hospitals and clinics (also known as military treatment facilities or MTFs), the overall quality of the patient experience with front desk staff and explore patient encounters. This effort resulted in the NCR Experience Office initiating a project to: Understand the patient experience when interacting with a MTF front desk; identify underlying factors of influence across all clinical facilities and define the variables, processes, and best practices of front desks in order to identify successful approaches to patient engagement both inside the MHS and private health care systems.
The team found that within our NCR Market network of care that includes 32 MTFs, 11 dental treatment facilities serving more than 270K enrollees, some active duty service members and eligible beneficiaries entering the NCR Market find it challenging to effectively manage their health care. Therefore, the NCR Market digital Patient Guidebook was created to introduce all new/current constituents to the NCR Market construct and to optimize the beneficiary experience.
This collaborative effort was coordinated with the NCR PAO, NCR Market MTF Leadership, Patient Experience & Relations offices, MTF Chief Medical Officers, and Defense Health Agency. The NCR Market Guidebook will act as an onboarding and reference guide to help patients navigate the NCR Market health care experience and will be updated every 6-12 months based on pertinent feedback and new information available to share.
Key Messages & Talking Points
See below for key messages and talking points for communicators. Use these to develop and tailor local messaging for your community.
Message for Communicators
- The NCR Market Patient Guidebook was created to introduce all new/current constituents to the NCR Market construct and to optimize the beneficiary experience.
- The NCR Market Patient Guidebook was developed based on best practices of front desks identifying successful approaches to patient engagement both inside the MHS and private health care systems.
- NCR Market Patient Guidebook will serve to provide common understanding between patients and staff, set expectations of care throughout the NCR Market and improve access to care supporting the overall wellbeing of the force, allowing patients to feel ease and assurance while navigating the health care system.
- The NCR Patient Guidebook will be a digital PDF that showcases unique features of the NCR Market and act as the NCR Market primer answering common patient questions ahead of arrival to an NCR MTF, alleviating confusion amongst patients and front desk staff.
- The NCR Market has partnered with DHA Stratcomm to assist with NCR Patient Guidebook analytics measuring user engagements - tracking page views and event downloads.
- Carousel images and social media graphics are included in this toolkit for sharing the NCR Market Patient Guidebook on MTF webpages and social media platforms.
- The NCR Market Guidebook will be updated every 6-12 months based on pertinent feedback and new information available to share.
Graphics & Social Media Messages
Use these graphics and suggested social media messages on your various social media sites. Feel free to tailor messages as needed for your local audience.
Suggested Social Media Messages
Social Media Graphics
Use any of the graphics below with the approved social media messages

Carousel Images for MTF Websites
Use any of these graphics on your military or hospital website home page to drive traffic to the NCR Market Digital Patient Guidebook. These images are already uploaded into the AFPIMS shared media manager. Please find them using the VIRIN ID numbers below.

VIRIN ID: 121222-A-NCR01-001

VIRIN ID: 121222-A-NCR01-002

VIRIN ID: 121222-A-NCR01-003