|

EPMC – Striving Diligently to Improve Patient Satisfaction
In March, 2004, Estes Park Medical Center initiated a program of
post-visit patient surveys conducted by Avatar International
Inc., in order to elicit feedback regarding the quality of
service in our three main patient areas: the Emergency
Department, our Inpatient Unit and our New Life Center. To
analyze and follow-up on this feedback, EPMC leadership
appointed a team comprised of employees from various departments
to assess the results and devise strategies to improve areas
where feedback was less than favorable.
Since instituting this program, there have been major
improvements in several areas, most notably Billing, Meals and
Pain Management. Our Emergency Department has consistently
received a five-star rating, reflecting admirably on all
hospital personnel caring for those patients.
In order to gauge our successes and challenges, Estes Park
Medical Center compares our patient satisfaction survey scores
to the scores of our patients’ expectations,
as well as other hospitals participating in the
Avatar survey process. We have found that
time and again we exceed their expectations. For
our current reporting period (January 2008 – December 2008), our
results were as follows:

Some changes
we recently made at EPMC to better accommodate our patients include:
- In-room
informational materials and whiteboards to better educate and inform
our inpatients about the care they are receiving.
- A
designated Patient Financial Services representative for every
inpatient so
that all billing and payment questions and issues can be answered.
- Improved
Dietary Services, to include extended meal times, home-style cooking
and elegant place settings.
-
Streamlined patient admitting procedures to the Emergency
Department.
- Improved pain management procedures and patient
education.

Here are a few recent patient
comments about some of our staff –


“I felt very safe during my short stay. I received
excellent care and I thought the food was very good! I feel very
fortunate to be here in Estes Park where we have such wonderful
medical facilities so close at hand!

"Dr. Hemstreet is an
outstanding doctor! We could not have been given
better care."
“The doctor and nurse that treated me were absolutely amazing! The
night went from being such a scary situation to feeling safe and
more understood. Neither me nor my family had ever felt so well
taken care of as we did at your hospital. Thank you!”
 
“I’ve always had positive experiences in the E.R. even though I live
(out of town). I prefer to be seen in the EPMC E.R. You guys are the
best and are always pleasant and helpful, not to mention very
caring. Thank you for taking such great care of me!”
|