I see alot of angst from well-meaning Administrators who, in a rush to ‘get their scores up’, sometimes miss the solution that’s usually staring them right between the eyes.
Most hospitals subscribe to a first-rate survey vendor who provides a prioritized list of ‘action items’ that, if improved, will have the greatest potential to improve their HCAHPS results.
Some survey vendors provide this data at a unit level, which is very, very helpful.
The challenge, from a performance improvement perspective, is actioning the data: figuring out what’s needed and the plan to implement a corrective action plan so that by the time the next survey rolls around, we see progress.
Hospitals that make little or no progress with their surveyed HCAHPS or patient satisfaction results do so not because of lack of will or ability, but lack of priority and focus…the survey vendor’s reports are so good that sometimes it’s difficult to come up with a strategy to action one or two items to effectively move the needle.
That’s why I really like CLS’s Bellwether system…it brings prioritization and focus (coordinated with your survey vendor’s priority suggestions), but unlike a survey, it brings the discipline of a true performance improvement tool to the arsenal of Administrators.
In doing so, it enables daily improvement. It focuses unit-level improvement and measurement on one or two high priority items – until those performance issues are effectively eradicated. Then, following the Bellwether discipline, you move on to the next high priority item.
The process is deft, in that it involves frontline staff involvement in understanding and solving the problem. It engages every stakeholder to assure root-cause eradication.
Kinda simple, huh?
If this sounds like TQM, it’s because elements of it are straight from the TQM book. Root-cause eradication to improve the patient experience at a unit level.
CLS’s Bellwether system…check it out. http://www.customlearning.com/bellwether
Dennis Heck, FACHE
Vice President
Custom Learning Systems
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