Patient satisfaction is, and always has been, the highest priority for all employees at the UConn Health Center. But how can everyone find the tools, resources and support needed to maintain a consistent environment of patient-centered care?
To address that challenge, a new steering committee has come together to develop an educational curriculum related to patient satisfaction. The group is also looking at ways to continually raise awareness of, and pride in, the Health Center’s longstanding commitment to patient-centered care.
A Thoughtful Approach
Led by Ann Marie Capo, the Health Center’s associate vice president for clinical effectiveness and patient safety, committee members include clinical leaders as well as representatives from Human Resources and the Office of Communications. The group formed in late 2011 and one of their first tasks involved partnering with several clinical leaders to review organizational needs and develop a broad, strategic approach to providing patient-centered care.
A “needs assessment” was conducted through several small group meetings to identify successful practices and skills related to patient perception of care, centered on domains used by national, standardized patient surveys. Feedback from these sessions is assisting in the development of educational models to address patient satisfaction performance.
So far, more than 75 employees have participated in the discussions. An additional session is planned for March 19, with allied-health services staff and managers. Also, in order to give front-line staff an opportunity to contribute their thoughts and ideas, a day-long session will be conducted during the March 16 Health, Safety and Environment Fair in the Food Court.
Workshops to be Held
More formal workshops will soon be held to give managers and directors hands-on experience with using national survey tools, such as Press Ganey and others. A second workshop will focus on giving managers skills to drive patient satisfaction. These workshops will lay the foundation for educating managers and coming together as a group and then allow them to move forward and continue to drive change throughout the organization.
Once managers have completed their workshops, training will begin for front-line staff. The focus will be on patient-centered care with curriculum to include principles such as AIDET (Acknowledge-Introduce-Duration-Explain-Thank you), professional presentation, and interpersonal communication. In addition, the “100-Day Workout” model will be used to drive and sustain the changes we are making. New employees are being provided customer service training in orientation.
“This is just the beginning of an ongoing and enriching educational program. We are pleased with the progress so far and look forward to sharing this journey with all Health Center staff,” Capo added.
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