Fire Starter

WellStar Douglas Hospital Ambulatory Surgery Unit

Douglasville, GA

WellStar Douglas Hospital's Ambulatory Surgery department has been selected by Studer Group to receive the March Fire Starter of the Month Award. WellStar Douglas Ambulatory Surgery is in the 98th percentile in patient satisfaction.

"A huge part of our success is the team approach that this staff takes," said Karen Beard, director of Surgical Services. "They truly treat each patient and family member the way they would want to be treated if the roles were reversed. When I took this position three years ago, my primary focus was employee engagement. There is no way you will achieve high customer satisfaction scores with a disengaged staff. I still have some opportunity with our employee engagement, but I do feel that this helped contribute to sustaining our high customer satisfaction scores."
Some of the initiatives that were tied to increased patient satisfaction are:

1. The helpfulness of our Surgery Center staff when speaking with patients
   • We had a difficult time understanding if the patient was aware that this was for registration only and not anyone else from the hospital or physician's office who may call them. We added a parenthetical statement at the end of the question that says "For registration only."
2. Waiting room comfort
   • Added a coffee maker and water cooler in the waiting room.
   • Provided complimentary snacks as the vending area is some distance from our waiting room. The snacks are monitored by our receptionist and a sign is posted reminding those who are scheduled for a procedure to remain NPO.
   • Established a "kid's area" in the waiting room and added a small table with chairs. We installed a TV at children's viewing level with a DVD player which continuously plays children's movies. We also have "Highlights" and "Nickelodeon" magazines available.
   • Started using a pager system to notify patient families when needed. This allows family members to be anywhere on campus and not have to worry about missing a call. This same system allows us to input family members' cell phone numbers if they want to leave campus. When they are needed, the system will call the number given and provide an automated voice message that it is time to return to the facility.
   • Installed a baby changing station in the men's restroom in the waiting room.
   • Addressed concerns about the temperature of the waiting area by working with our engineering staff.
3. PreOp rooms
   • Purchased portable DVD players along with kid-friendly DVDs to help pass the time for children who were patients or just visiting.
   • Posted "We strive for five" posters in each of these rooms.
   • Provided Dr. WellBee stuffed animals to all pediatric patients.
   • Provided "WellStar Douglas Hospital" sippy cups for pediatric patient use.
   • Distributed Dr. WellBee coloring books with crayons for pediatric patients or children who visit.
4. PostOp collateral
   • Created a folder in our hospital colors with a label on the front that reads, "Instructions for Caring for Yourself at Home. We strive for five. If you are unable to give a five, we want to know how we can improve to better serve your needs."
5. Information provided about delays
   • We make a concerted effort to communicate delay reasons between the OR and PreOp areas. We also strive to communicate these delays to patients and families any time their surgery is delayed and then to provide regular updates. Staff are encouraged to give specific estimates of delays instead of vague responses.
   • Empowered staff to use service recovery tools when long delays occur.
6. HIPAA
   • Had curtains installed in all the PreOp rooms so that if the door is open, the curtain can be closed for privacy. When closing the curtain, staff are scripted to say, "I am closing this for your privacy."
7. Miscellaneous changes
   • Publicly acknowledged and rewarded staff who are mentioned by name in a survey.
   • Check Hot Comments daily from Press Ganey and contact those with negative comments if they give us permission to call them.
   • Educated staff on AIDET^SM. This is a customer service training program and stands for Acknowledge, Introduce, Duration, Explanation and Thank You.
   • Mailed thank you notes signed by every member of the care team to each patient.

WellStar Douglas Hospital was named one of the nation's top-ranked, "five-star" community value hospitals by Cleverly and Associates, a distinction based on cost and quality of medical services.

With 98 beds, state-of-the-art medical services and facilities and a medical staff of more than 350 physicians specializing in a wide variety of fields, the capabilities of our community-based hospital are exceptional. Serving a county population of more than 120,000 people, WellStar Douglas Hospital continues to rise to the healthcare demands and needs of the community.

The vision of WellStar Health System is to deliver world-class healthcare through our hospitals, physicians and services. WellStar Health System includes Cobb, Douglas, Kennestone, Paulding and Windy Hill hospitals; WellStar Physicians Group; Urgent Care Centers; Health Place; Homecare; Hospice; Atherton Place; Paulding Nursing Center; and WellStar Foundation. For more information, call 770-956-STAR or visit www.wellstar.org.