Case Studies

CLIENT

Large Children’s Hospital in Florida

CHALLENGE

To improve HCAHP scores and provide a better experience for patients and staff.

SOLUTION

Entire team learned how to build trust and form relationships with their co-workers and the families they served.

RESULT

Up to 60% improvement in HCAHPS

DRIVING
PATIENT EXPERIENCE SCORES

As part of a large health system in Florida, this award-winning women and babies hospital routinely delivered more than 15,000 babies per year and included one of the largest neonatal intensive care units in the world. Hospital leadership was focused on further expanding their reputation for being the premier provider in their area for OB/GYN and newborn services.

Challenge

Although this large women and babies hospital maintained a reputation for providing the highest quality care, the health system recognized that patient satisfaction scores had dropped significantly below the national average. Understanding that poor HCAHP scores and a high staff turnover rate were affecting their bottom line and would ultimately result in lower clinical outcomes, new leadership placed addressing these problems as a top priority.

A review of their HCHAPS showed particularly low scores in the areas of communication. Combined with employee engagement surveys indicating frustration with interdisciplinary and interpersonal communication, the hospital was particularly focused on improving the work environment for their staff and providing a better overall experience for their patients and families.

SOLUTION

To provide a better overall experience for their patients and staff members, leadership knew it was imperative that they improve their patient satisfaction scores and provide a better work environment for their team members and staff. Leadership recognized that even the most compassionate team members had become task-oriented. They knew that the team needed to learn how to build relationships with each other and with their patients. They understood that teams who communicate effectively and with empathy promote teamwork and provide better care.

Working with the medical directors and nursing leadership, The Orsini Way® utilized multiple educational formats to change the way physicians and team members communicate with patients and each other. TOW trained nurse leadership using improvisational role-play with professional actors. Once the train-the-trainer program was complete the conversation moved toward getting the whole team on board. We then provided in-person interactive workshops combined with short easy to complete learning modules on communication for the entire staff including nursing, physicians, and team members. The consistent theme was that learning how to effectively communicate, build relationships and establish trust with both patients and co-workers will ultimately enhance the overall patient experience.

Finally, using our “See Something Say Something” accountability and reward system, The Orsini Way provided ongoing support materials to maintain the new culture of relationship-building through better communication. As an added bonus, team members earned valuable CME and CEU credits.

RESULTS

%
of participants felt the training was beneficial
%
agree that the program positively improved communication with co-workers
%
said the program positively changed the way they communicate with families

Most dramatically, the numbers were maintained for years.

The TOW communication training program resulted in a 60% improvement in overall HCAHP percentile rankings. Questions regarding nurse and physician communication showed the most dramatic increases. Internal surveys showed that employees were communicating better with their co-workers as well.

The core concepts of establishing trust and building relationships became the new culture. Staff reported feeling less task-oriented and better job satisfaction. Team members were highlighting each other’s positive behavior and were more willing to lend a hand if someone needed help. The overall change in the department’s climate became noticeable to the families of the patients resulting in a better experience for all.

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