L+M’s Unit 4.1 was a recent winner of Yale New Haven Health’s new quarterly systemwide Patient Experience award for “Responsiveness,” as the unit pumped up its Press Ganey scores by 48 ranks, according to the hospital’s Patient Experience team.
“They have been working so hard and truly deserve this,” said Mary Wadsworth, program manager of Patient Experience for L+M and Westerly hospitals.
How did they do it? “By working together to care for our patients and using closed-loop communication methods when patient requests and tasks are placed in Secure Chat,” said Ashly Thatcher, RN, nurse manager on Unit 4.1. “I’m so proud of our team for these amazing scores.”
Another thing that helped, according to Thatcher, was a “mobility project” designed to get patients out of bed and moving, with staff assistance and when appropriate. “I am looking forward to our team’s continued progress, and I can’t thank the team enough for their commitment, day after day, to patient care. When we excel together, it makes the job easier, more enjoyable and more rewarding and satisfying for all of us.”
The unit received a certificate and award for its commitment to consistently responding with excellence, compassion and expertise, which helps drive positive patient experience scores. “Responsiveness to Concerns” is a key driver in improving YNHHS' "Likelihood of Recommending" score on patient surveys.
The goal of the Responsiveness Certificate program is to encourage clinical teams to improve their inpatient HCAHPS responsiveness scores through friendly competition. Recognizing areas that show the most improvement in responsiveness helps foster continuous performance improvement and team engagement.
