Kristin Baird is a nationally recognized thought leader in improving the patient experience. Whether presenting a keynote to thousands or a skill-building workshop for twelve, her presentations are thought-provoking and inspirational, yet extremely pragmatic. Having been in the trenches of healthcare for over 35 years as a nurse and hospital executive, Ms. Baird speaks the language of someone who’s “been there, done that.” A highly sought-after consultant, she works with individuals and groups from the frontline, medical staff and C-suite, guiding them through culture changes with measurable results in patient satisfaction and employee engagement.

Ms. Baird began her career as a Registered Nurse with clinical experience ranging from critical care to obstetrics to public health, then her passion for listening to the voice of the consumer led her into healthcare marketing and business development. During her eight years as Vice President of Business Development and Marketing for Watertown Area Health Services (now UW-Health Partners), she led an award-winning service excellence initiative, chronicled in her best-selling book, Customer Service in Health Care: A Grassroots Approach to Creating a Culture of Service Excellence.

Her grassroots model formed the foundation of the Baird Model for Service Excellence: A Roadmap for Culture Transformation and Patient Experience Enrichment. In recent years, Ms. Baird has also authored Reclaiming the Passion: Stories That Celebrate the Essence of Nursing, Raising the Bar on Service Excellence: The Healthcare Leader’s Guide to Putting Passion into Practice and You Make the Call: Healthcare’s Mandate for Post-discharge Follow Up.

In 1991, Ms. Baird launched her own consulting firm, Baird Group, which has provided patient experience improvement strategies to hundreds of healthcare organizations internationally. As President and CEO, she leads a team of skilled professionals who help transform culture and shape the patient experience. In this capacity she developed a unique methodology for “medical mystery shopping” to help healthcare organizations clearly understand the patient experience reality.

In 2009, Ms. Baird was appointed by the Secretary of Health to serve as an advisor for the National Health Service Corps. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Nursing from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Master of Health Administration from Cardinal Stritch University.