Patient & Staff Satisfaction

SPOILED When the staff at SMI Surgery Center in San Diego, Calif., are acknowledged for good service, they earn something they appreciate.

Judy Harless, MBA, CASC, the administrator of SMI Surgery Center in San Diego, Calif., says that catering to the individual is the key to her staff’s and patients’ happiness.

“I think personalized service, for both patients and staff, makes the difference,” says Ms. Harless. “There is such huge competition, both for patients and staff, in our market that you need to differentiate yourself.”

The little things matter
Ms. Harless says that for staff, personalizing rewards has become a great way to get to know her team a little bit better and to ensure that when they are acknowledged for good service, they earn something they truly appreciate.

It started when Ms. Harless handed out “spoil me” cards to all the staff, asking them to list 3 things they considered meaningful rewards. The things employees listed ranged from a department store gift card to an afternoon off to watch their child play in a sport. Now, when someone is recognized for an achievement, the managers pull out that card. She notes that it’s not any more expensive, but it’s definitely more meaningful.

“It’s always nice to be recognized, but it’s always better for it to be personalized,” says Ms. Harless. “If I give you a Starbucks gift card, but you don’t drink coffee, it’s nice, but you might just go home and give it to your husband.”

She says patients frequently comment that it’s evident that “the staff actually enjoys their jobs.” When patient satisfaction survey results are in, Ms. Harless says she makes sure to post them and highlight whenever a patient recognizes an employee.

This idea of the individual also runs deep in the center’s care of patients. Ms. Harless says that the staff is acutely aware of high-anxiety patients and makes sure to do everything it can to comfort them. The center recently had a patient who was extremely nervous about her procedure. Staff scheduled her a tour of the facility, walked her through her operation and had personnel meet with her to answer any questions. “The more she knew, the more she relaxed. It may be an everyday event for us, but it certainly isn’t for the patients,” she says.

Even patients’ escorts get the royal treatment. The center’s receptionist offers warm blankets and pillows to those who are cold in the chilly waiting room, or soft drinks and snacks when a surgery is taking a long time. If a waiting area isn’t full, and there are little ones running around, the receptionist will put cartoons on the TV for their entertainment.

‘FUN IS FREE’
Lafayette General’s Steps to Success: Engage, Empower, Reward

FEELING LIKE FAMILY Faith LeBrun, RN, BSN, MBA, CAPA (kneeling in white jacket) says she keeps this photo, taken after the staff won an award just 1 month after she started, hung in both her office and her home.

In just over a year, Lafayette (La.) General Health has moved from the 1st percentile in its employee satisfaction survey to the 61st. Faith LeBrun, RN, BSN, MBA, CAPA, the director of perioperative services, credits the improvement to 3 things: engagement, empowerment, and rewards and recognition.

From fantasy-football-like competitions that incentivize starting cases on time to staff music videos like Talk Surgery to Me (a play on the pop song Talk Dirty to Me) to increased participation at meetings, Ms. LeBrun says that engaging staff has increased their happiness, teamwork and patient care. “Fun is free, and you can have it at work and take excellent care of the patients,” she says.

Ms. LeBrun says that keeping staff engaged has also helped to empower them to make positive changes at the facility. When she first got to the center, she says, only 40% of cases started on time. By making changes like keeping circulators in the OR before cases and showing staff examples of how delays affect patients — like the elderly couple, hungry and anxious, in the waiting room — the staff has raised that number to 80%.

And when the center’s staff “gets caught getting it right,” Ms. LeBrun says that the facility makes sure to show its appreciation with anything from thank-you cards to personalized video awards shown at quarterly meetings.

While the staff is reporting increased satisfaction, so are patients. After starting with patient satisfaction survey scores in the 30th percentile, Ms. LeBrun says the center’s most recent results have them placed in the 96th.

“It’s just about empowering the people who are at the bedside with the patients,” she says. “I feel like I’m more of the support staff in a way. They’re the stakeholders and they know what it takes.”

— Kendal Gapinski

Inform, appreciate and give back
SMI Surgery Center does more than personalize treatment of staff and patients, says Ms. Harless. It also makes sure that staff are informed and engaged with things going on — from updates after partner meetings to providing input on the types of benefits they receive.

“I share as much as I can with them, so that there is a transparency at work,” Ms. Harless says.

The center also recognizes and celebrates its staff through a Staff Appreciation Week, which includes such perks as catered lunches every day as well as gifts such as thank-you notes, backpacks and movie tickets.

Additionally, the center is bringing together its staff for a greater good. Ms. Harless says that the group is currently working with local veterans’ groups to organize a Surgical Saturday, which would provide free surgery to veterans in need.

All of the attention to staff and patient happiness has worked, with SMI winning APEX Quality Awards distinguishing them as one of Voyance’s highest performing healthcare entities 2 years in a row.

While Ms. Harless says she makes it her job to keep staff and patients satisfied, she largely thanks the 8 physicians who own the center, who “understand that happy employees are paramount to having a successful center.”

— Kendal Gapinski