November 2008

The following are highlights from this month's edition of SMCS Physician (view entire newsletter here):

A Message from Tom Gagen, CEO

Patient Safety Rounds Having Desired Effects
In our constant efforts to provide a safer environment for our patients and make their hospital experience a more positive one, our nursing staff recently placed a greater emphasis on Patient Safety Rounding. The goal of the program is for the nursing staff to visit each patient and their family every hour to check on any needs, including pain relief and bathroom breaks.

The new emphasis is just weeks old, but it already is making a serious impact on patient satisfaction and one of the core measurements – reduction in the number of call lights. In just two weeks in October, the number of times patients on 5 South at Sutter General pressed their call lights to alert their nurse for help reduced from 7.34 to 3.63 per patient per day. That’s a reduction of 51 percent and makes a big difference for both the patient and the staff member.

Another one of the benefits of this program is to anticipate any problems or issues patients may have and get them the help they need in a more timely fashion. We hope this will significantly decrease the number of calls to our physicians in the middle of the night for issues that could be resolved earlier in the evening.

However, the best indicator of how well Safety Rounds are working is the experience of our patients and their loved ones. Here’s a letter from the wife of a patient who has been in our hospital several times.

“This time, things are different!” she writes. “His nurses and CNAs are constantly checking on him and me. When his IV machine beeps, someone is in the room within seconds. Your new program ‘Safety Rounds’ is definitely working and making a difference! Kind, caring, friendly staff – what a blessing for the patients at Sutter and their families. I am a human relations professional and know good service when I see it. Thank you so much.”

I hope you are also noticing the improvements and are getting the same feedback from your patients and their families. And, if you are, thank our nursing staff for their hard work.

Make Your Voice Heard; Physician Satisfaction Surveys Due Nov. 12
About 80 percent of American voters turned out to the polls on Nov. 4 to have their voices heard on the election of a new president and a multitude of other offices and propositions.

Now it’s time for you, our medical staff, to have your voices heard on how well the hospital is meeting your needs and those of your patients. As of Election Day, only 40 percent of our medical staff has turned in their Physician Satisfaction Survey. We can do much, much better.

It’s important that our physicians let their voices heard. In September, each member of our medical staff was mailed this year’s Press Ganey Physician Satisfaction Survey. Please, fill it out and turn it in; you can also fill it out on the Internet. The A-Team will then take survey results and implement plans and procedures to improve the quality of care for our patients and the work environment for our medical staff.

As an incentive, every physician who fills out their survey and then contacts Grange Fife (916-733-3097 or FifeK@sutterhealth.org) will receive a gift certificate for a car wash. Also, we will be raffling off five $100 gift certificates to Biba restaurant at the end of the survey.

I look forward to seeing the results for this year and working together on solutions next year.

Read the entire entire newsletter here.