Yes, You Can Please Everyone

Every patient who walks into your facility expects to undergo successful surgery and receive compassionate care. In today’s competitive, consumer-driven healthcare marketplace, that’s not always enough to translate into positive patient satisfaction scores, which can make or break your facility’s reputation.

“Patients now have the ability to research where they can go to for care,” says Leia Engle, MSN, CGRN, RN-BC, clinical manager at Memorial Hermann Northeast Hospital in Humble, Texas. “If they see that your facility has received poor reviews, they might choose to go elsewhere.” Implementing these 6 pillars of patient-centered care won’t give them that option.

Schedule cases with more predictable times early in the morning so you can better gauge patient arrival times. When you get to the longer cases later in the day? “Give patients a general idea of an arrival time, but call them and have them stay home longer if the surgeon is running behind,” says Rebecca Rainey, RN, operating room lead at the Center for Minimally Invasive Surgery in Munster, Ind. “Most patients respond well when we tell them the surgeon specifically asked that we let them know and update them.”

Use pre-op phone calls as opportunities to inform them about what to expect on the day of the procedure, answer any questions they might have about the surgical experience and reduce their anxiety before they arrive for surgery. Communicate what makes them nervous to the frontline staff so they can help make them feel at ease when they arrive for surgery.

Conduct “leader rounding,” which is just as it sounds — a leader from the surgical department or facility personally checks in on patients to see how they’re doing. “It’s no different than when a manager at a restaurant stops by tables to see how patrons are doing,” says Dan Lantos, MSN, RN, CNML, nurse manager of radiology at Atrium Health Cabarrus in Concord, N.C. “The same concept applies to leader rounding. It shows there’s effort being put into making patients as comfortable as possible and gives the facility credibility in patients’ eyes.”

Just seeing that a leader from the department is interested in taking the time to introduce themselves and make sure everything is OK is incredibly reassuring, according to Mr. Lantos. “As leaders, supervisors and managers, we are all pressed for time every day,” he says, “but spending just a few minutes with patients can make a powerful impact.”

OK, having all staff members who cared for a patient sign a card thanking them for choosing your facility is nothing new, but do you personalize the greetings or simply have staff sign a boilerplate greeting? Ms. Engle believes sending thank-you cards to a patient can provide them with a warm feeling about their experience, especially when you add personal details that make it more meaningful to them. “If a patient just became a grandparent, for example, we’ll write in the card, ‘Thank you for choosing us and congratulations on your new grandchild.’ That small gesture means a lot to patients,” says Ms. Engle, who adds that one patient was thrilled to receive the card because it was the first piece of mail she had received after surgery that wasn’t a bill.

Hold meetings with staff and providers from all areas of the facility to go over the results of satisfaction surveys and make adjustments based on the feedback, says Ms. Rainey. For example, her staff learned some patients were frustrated by receiving too many calls from the facility before their procedures. Now, they kill 2 birds with 1 stone: A member of the business office calls patients to review out-of-pocket obligations, and then transfers the patient to a pre-op nurse who reviews the clinical checklist. This simple change cut short the game of phone tag.

Share positive feedback, too. Post complimentary quotes from patients in the breakroom for staff, surgeons and anesthesia providers to see. Sharing the positive things patients say about your team will inspire them to continue delivering great care.

Ms. Engle recalls when a leadership change at her facility caused tension among the staff. Patients could sense — and in some cases see — the negative ways employees interacted with each other and noted in their satisfaction surveys that it was obvious the staff didn’t like each other. She knew things had to change and had staff focus on how they interacted with each other as much as they emphasized patient-centered care.

As the staff started to respect each other as people instead of just colleagues, patients took notice and satisfaction scores began to increase. “We also see the nurses and staff talking to the patients differently,” says Ms. Engle. “Even on the busiest days, staff never refer to patients as a number or a procedure. They’re always referred to by name and treated like a person. You can just feel the positivity of the center and see that people are happy and love to be there. That small attitude adjustment made a big difference in our patient satisfaction scores.” OSM