Your most recent patient satisfaction scores suggest the majority of your patients are walking out the door with a positive impression of your facility. In other words, you're doing a bang-up job. Congratulations. But do you know why your patients are satisfied and, more importantly, do you have a firm understanding of the areas that could use some TLC?

Barbara J. Holder, RN, BSN, LHRM, CAPA, does. Ms. Holder recently took it upon herself to review her facility's patient comments from the past 10 years. In the process, she began to see a common thread.

"Patients viewed our facility as a well-oiled machine," says Ms. Holder, the QI coordinator for Andrews Institute Ambulatory Surgery Center, in Gulf Breeze, Fla. "That points to the fact that all our employees and staff are on the same page."

In her ORX presentation, "25 Ways to Improve Your Patient Satisfaction Scores," Ms. Holder will offer her perspective on the tools and techniques — some simple, others quite sophisticated — that have helped every member of her team play an important role in delivering the best possible patient experience.

The stakes. No. 1, it's your reputation, plain and simple. No. 2, it's customer loyalty, because a dissatisfied patient isn't likely to be a repeat customer. And No. 3, your patient-satisfaction scores are going to have a measurable impact on Medicare reimbursements in the very near future. We want pure, unsolicited feedback from patients so we can know if we're living up to, if not exceeding, their expectations, and how we can continue to get better.

Barbara J. Holder, RN, BSN, LHRM, CAPA

An RN for more than 35 years, currently the QI coordinator for Andrews Institute Ambulatory Surgery Center in Gulf Breeze, Fla.

A licensed health risk manager and a health risk instructor for the University of South Florida.

A former Girl Scout leader who now mentors Girl Scout alumnae who are preparing to enter the workforce.

First impressions. We recently completed accreditation and state surveys, and one of the surveyors offered some perspective on the importance of first impressions. She told me, "We get a pretty good feel for how well a survey is going to go based on the initial impression we get the moment we walk through the door." The patient is going to feel the same way. That's why something as simple as the cleanliness of your facility or the friendliness of your receptionist sets the stage for a positive overall patient experience.

The huddle. In the past year, we implemented daily huddles for every department: pre-op, PACU, sterile processing and even our business office. Because of these quick daily meetings, employees now feel more empowered, they understand that they have a voice and they have a clear understanding of their roles within the organization.

The culture. Embrace a culture where the staff is professional and very perceptive of patients' needs, but also focused on attention to detail and on delivering excellence in whatever they do. So whether you're the person who's managing a patient's pain and controlling PONV, working in SPD as a means of preventing infections or following up with the patient post-operatively, every action is about sustaining a high quality of care. OSM