Bluffton Hospital Wins National Patient Satisfaction Award For Third Consecutive Year

Bluffton Hospital has been named one of only 37 inpatient hospitals in the United States to receive the 2011 Press Ganey Summit Award for patient satisfaction. This is the third consecutive year Bluffton Hospital has received this honor, according to William Watkins of the hospital.

The Press Ganey Summit Award is given to health care facilities across the nation that sustain the highest level of customer satisfaction for three or more consecutive years.

Bluffton Hospital has ranked in the 99th percentile nationally for inpatient satisfaction for more than five consecutive years.

According to Press Ganey, recipients of the Summit Award truly set themselves apart from the competition. They do so by demonstrating their dedication to improvement and sustaining excellence in both quality of care and patient satisfaction.

About the Award
The Press Ganey Summit Award is the health care satisfaction industry's most coveted symbol of achievement.

Bluffton, Ohio Area of Focus

Here's what the report stated about Bluffton Hospital:
Having now received the Summit Award for three consecutive years, we believe our focus on patient communication at Bluffton Hospital has had the most significant impact on our consistency, as it covers so many aspects of the patient experience and quality of care.

Patient communication improves the ability of patients to understand and be involved in their own care. This may also help avoid the development of conditions related to readmission and enhance the patient's post- hospitalization health.

Actionable Steps
We have executed several initiatives to improve our focus on patient communication. First, the clinical care units have been more frequently using scripted language with patients. Most clinical departments have also implemented scripting for post- discharge follow-up calls to patients.

During these calls, they note any variations in responses - or any questions from patients or family - that identify areas for improvement in our processes or areas where we can provide more emphasis on communication or instruction.

Clinical care units have also realized the benefits of routine rounding to support our communication efforts by utilizing patient feedback to demonstrate understanding around care processes and post-hospitalization instructions. Further, medical/ surgical nursing has employed the use of various narrative documents in regard to educating patients and families in the areas of patient care, post-discharge activities and medication.

After discharge, patients and/or families are provided with a callback number that will connect them to the unit where the patient received care. By maintaining basic patient care information within the department's records after a patient is discharged, patients can easily have their discharge instructions validated, ask medication questions, or request other information on a 24/7 basis.

ROI
We are able to continually confirm the impact of our efforts by having a strong support system in our hospital's quality department, board committees and administrative committees.

These entities review or consult on any action plans that clinical department leadership implements. In addition, they regularly review specific action steps made by clinical departments and evaluate the impact of the departments' efforts.

This evaluation process includes examining feedback from patients, physicians and associates who can each - through their own unique perspectives - point us in the direction of continued improvement opportunities.

To learn more about what Bluffton Hospital did to achieve this honor, visit the Press Ganey Awards Book by clicking here.