Holy Redeemer Home Health and Hospice Services - Philadelphia, PA
"The Journey to Patient Satisfaction"
At Holy Redeemer Home Health and Hospice Services, the Press Ganey experience has evolved into an exciting journey. With a commitment made by leadership to improve the health care experience of all patients, the facility embarked on an initiative in 2002 to improve the satisfaction of those served by the home care agency.
Actionable Steps
Efforts began with the formation of a Press Ganey Committee in 2002, which was comprised largely of nursing management. Simultaneously, another committee focused on the development of customer service initiatives. A tremendous amount of time was spent analyzing data to dispel the widely held misconceptions that only the problem patients completed the survey and that patients were mostly concerned with the technical component of the care provided.
The agency’s initial inability to create a sustainable plan of action yielded lessons that would assist the entire team during the remainder of its journey. They learned that it is important to:
• Develop realistic and sustainable plans.
• Combine initiatives and ensure alignment with overall agency goals. The action plans originally developed were enormous and impossible to carry out and maintain over an extended period of time.
• Involve and engage all departments. Recognizing that all departments are dependent on each other, ensuring engagement of clinical and non-clinical departments is critical to success.
• Utilize the tools provided by Press Ganey to point team members in the right direction—don’t assume that you know what the patient wants. The Priority Index, Dashboard, Comment Reports, and Solutions Starters are valuable resources in addressing customer needs.
Following a Road Map
With the goal of promoting a customer focused workforce and improving patient satisfaction, a Press Ganey/Customer Service Committee was formed. This new group brought fun, creativity, and excitement to the agency’s efforts. The Priority Index, Dashboard, and Comment Reports were carefully reviewed since they give customers an opportunity to voice their concerns about factors that may prevent them from having an optimal experience. A realistic, sustainable action plan was developed that included the following:
• Ensuring involvement of all departments and leadership.
• Alignment of initiatives with other agency goals; including quality patient outcomes, increased employee satisfaction, and financial viability.
• Purchase of a telephone skills video library.
• Educational in-services regarding basic phone tips and handling angry callers.
• Phone tip cards containing scripts.
• “Redeemer Review” newsletter that features education, “award winning performances,” and “outtakes” from Comment Reports.
• Education and scripting regarding clinical goal setting.
Leadership and Culture Changes
The development of a new leadership and management team that would position the agency to be a leading provider of the highest quality home care was a priority of senior management. An understanding of the importance of having the right people in the right positions led to significant leadership changes in 2002 and March 2004.
Maintaining a workplace culture where respect and trust exists in all interactions is directly linked to the ability of leadership to “walk the talk.” Visibility of leadership at all levels through formal and informal means enhanced communication, bridged gaps between staff and management, and continued to provide clarity regarding direction and progress toward goals. Open forums by senior management, regular attendance at team meetings by directors, an open door policy, and frequent leadership rounding provided opportunities for dialogue and discussion of patient and staff needs. The promotion of an environment where everyone is able to offer suggestions led to improved relationships and effective interdepartmental communication.
Recognition of Positive Behaviors
Knowing that programs that acknowledge and praise customer friendly behaviors foster repetition of desired behaviors, Holy Redeemer instituted the following practices:
• Letter to all employees signed by agency leadership when goals are exceeded.
• Celebration parties.
• Customer Service “STAR” program recognizes employees that demonstrate identified customer service behaviors. STARS are placed in a Customer Service Popcorn Bucket for a chance to win a certificate for dinner and a movie.
• Quarterly bulletin boards display positive survey results and comments.
• STAR certificates are given to individuals who are specifically mentioned in the Comment Report.
• The Redeemer Review newsletter features a “We Are Customers To Each Other” section recognizing employee behaviors that promote internal customer service.
Results
Scores related to the Priority Index focus areas improved while the overall mean score rose, over a two year time period, from 88.4 to 91.8. Greater employee satisfaction, determined by an annual employee satisfaction survey, was also achieved during this same time period. By combining the employee and patient satisfaction scores, the agency realized that a direct relationship existed between patient and employee satisfaction. In the 2004 fiscal year period when an improvement in employee satisfaction scores was experienced, there was also an improvement in patient satisfaction results. The agency also experienced a significant decrease in its employee turnover rate—18% (2004) to 10% (2005). Holy Redeemer believes that its current initiatives will continue to reduce its turnover rate. Holy Redeemer’s successes, as well as challenges, have proven to be invaluable for leadership, employees, patients, and families. For Holy Redeemer, Press Ganey serves as the road map toward increased patient satisfaction.