Winter 2009/2010 - Promise Healthcare

PHYSICIAN RELATIONS
PRE FOCUS & EDUCATION
PRE Team Sets In Motion
The Promise Formula For Success
The Physician Relations & Education (PRE)
department is a key element of the Promise
formula for success, QH +S = S [Quality Healthcare
+ Sales = Success]. This strategy allows our
clinical departments to concentrate on patient
evaluation, admittance and treatment while our
PRE department focuses on service to physicians
and other referral sources. We are tasked with
two functions: develop and manage our hospital’s
relationships with those healthcare professionals
that refer patients to us [the ‘Relations’]; and
educate the community at large as well as those
physicians and other healthcare providers who
are not yet aware of our specialized services [the
‘Education’].
This past year, the PRE department’s first full
year, was successful as measured by our yardsticks
of case mix index, slot percentage and referrals.
By improving our communications with and
service to our referral sources, we are increasing
our patient volume while continuing to provide
outstanding quality of care to our patients.
While some of our markets have had more success
than others, overall we are confident that our PRE
strategy is correct, as the feedback we get from
physicians has been positive. Looking ahead, we
will continue to improve our PRE training. The
key to getting referrals is [1] by providing the
highest quality healthcare and [2] by educating
and providing the best possible service to physicians,
case managers, and other referral sources.
As we move into 2010, we also remind our coworkers
that we ALL are ambassadors for Promise.
By “giving back to our community”, not
only is it the right thing to do, it also expands our
exposure and helps educate the community about
Promise. In this manner, we are all “PRE’s”.
CLINICAL & QUALITY UPDATE
Let’s Dance – A Collaborative
Approach to Quality Monitoring
Have you ever watched two dancers perform during a dance competition
and observed how they move in synchronization as they step and sway
to the music? In the beginning, the duo’s dancing is not perfect. It takes
rehearsal after rehearsal, practice and more practice, a change here and
there, restructuring, disappointments and restarts, but the end product
turns out magnificent and consistent. So there you are, the observer, after
their performance, standing and clapping your hands shouting “Bravo” to
the end product of their hard work.
Quality and the zest to achieve perfection is all around us. It is ingrained
in our lives with everything we do, see and touch. How is quality
achieved, how is it maintained and how can we achieve quality in our
workplace? The answer is focusing on the quality process.
1. Since it is human nature not to want to hear you made an error,
quality audit reports may not be readily embraced and push back can
occur. Driving the fear and push back out of the audit and monitoring
process is a task for leadership as well as the one conducting the audit or
monitoring.
2. The purpose and benefits of the audit must be constantly emphasized to
ensure collaboration in the quality improvement process.
3. We should embrace the audit or monitoring results and accept them as
a learning tool and an opportunity for innovation and change. Management
and employees must be committed to the audit process as a tool to
ignite improvement.
4. Audits should focus on the process not the individual. Drilling an
inconsistency down to the lowest level is similar to conducting a root
cause analysis and may reveal areas for process improvement and innovation.
Utilizing staff work groups in developing methods to correct inconsistencies
is beneficial because they are the essence of the process.
5. We make audits and monitoring meaningful by integrating clinical audits
into daily staff activities and processes. Information from audits must
be discussed during staff meetings so that meaningful improvement can
take place. Bulletin boards and posters in employee break rooms or conference
rooms are useful in informing the staff of their progress.
6. We all must commit to monitoring as a tool for improvement of patient
care. Doing so will change the view of audits and monitoring and
improve their effectiveness.
We must constantly
remember that by
using our simple and
effective clinical
monitoring tools
we deliver on “Our
PROMISE # 1:
Quality Patient Care”.
4 P R O M I S E P U L S E