DEC. 21, 2004 | The UAMS Medical Center was cited for significant improvement in several patient satisfaction categories during a recent patient survey conducted by national health care consultant Press Ganey.

Also, Press Ganey singled out the UAMS Medical Center as a top improver along with eight other academic medical centers among the 129 facilities where it conducts regular patient surveys.

UAMS Medical Center was credited by patients responding to the survey for its performance in six categories: admissions, room, tests/treatments, nursing, personal issues and patient discharge.

“The patient survey results show the hard work of our employees and the continued commitment to our mission ‘to teach, to heal, to search and to serve,’” said Charles W. Smith, M.D., medical director of UAMS Medical Center and executive associate dean for clinical affairs at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Medicine “We will strive to continue improving the patient experience by calling on our unique combination of education, research and patient care resources to deliver world class health care.”

A report, “Improving Performance in Academic Medical Centers,” to all of Press Ganey’s client hospital facilities detailed the best practices used by the institutions in each category. The survey results led UAMS’ standing among its peers to jump by more than 30 percent from February 2003 to August 2004.

Often recognized for providing quality care, UAMS Medical Center is on the U.S. News & World Report list of the best hospitals in America.

Some of the UAMS practices noted in the 37-page report included:

• Admissions – A length-of-stay committee of physicians, nurses, admissions personnel and case coordinators seeks ways to decrease the length of stay necessary for patients, which also improved bed availability. Also, the hospital developed ways to improve communications between patients in the emergency department and clinical staff and ensured that all new employees were trained on customer service techniques.
  
  
• Room – Improved communication between nurses and housekeeping staff is accomplished through regular meetings to discuss room-related issues. Experienced housekeeping employees now mentor new hires. Patients are given information on how to contact housekeeping if the need arises.
  
  
• Tests/Treatments – Improved scheduling procedures were established for radiology testing. This included creating a program for quickly responding to patient concerns about wait times and establishing a task force to develop long-term solutions to wait time issues.
  
  
• Nurses – Nurses on patient floors worked together to identify priorities and actions for improving patient satisfaction. Whiteboards are used in rooms to convey caregiver names, test and treatment schedules and other information. Recognition cards to wear on name badges were created for managers to hand out to those who go “beyond the normal routine to extend kindness to a patient or visitor.” Every patient floor sends a staff nurse to the advisory council for addressing patient satisfaction issues hospital wide.
  
  
• Personal Issues – “Mystery shoppers” phoned the hospital with common patient questions to improve communications techniques and ensure employees showed courtesy and compassion to “patients.” Each patient floor now has a communication book where memos and other information are posted.
  
  
• Discharge – Physicians now are expected to have the discharge order for a patient by 9 a.m. Nurses are encouraged to ask about discharge plans in advance. Case managers were hired to track a patient’s progress through the continuum of care to make sure appropriate actions are taken.
  

Other facilities joining UAMS as a top improver and performer were Emory Crawford Long Hospital in Atlanta; Memorial-Sloan Kettering in New York; Monmouth Medical Center in Longbranch, N.J.; Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago; Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, N.J.; St. John’s Mercy Medical Center in St. Louis; Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C.; and Women and Infants Hospital in Providence, R.I.

Links on This Page
UAMS Medical Center: http://www.uams.edu/medcenter/

Press Ganey: http://www.pressganey.com

U.S.News & World Report Names UAMS Among Best Hospitals:
http://www.uams.edu/update/absolutenm/
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