NEW PERSPECTIVE
are bombarded with when they enter your
Don't Forget to Look Up
facility. Second, if you do need to hang
signs, don't simply tape up sheets of paper.
That looks cheap, and the signs will fray or
tear before long. Instead, have signs professionally made. At the very least, laminate typed copy on colored sheets of
T
paper for an inexpensive way to achieve a
hink about it: Patients are wheeled
throughout your facility on stretchers during most of their stay, flat on
their backs looking up at the ceiling. Walk your
professional look. If you have brochures
on display, place them in plastic holders
instead of stacking them freely on the
desk.
halls and look up to see what they see. Even
better, have one of your staff members wheel
you around the facility on a stretcher. Keep an
eye out for water stains, chipped tiles and cobwebs, which cleaning service crews often
Do patients see piles of medical records
strewn across the receptionist's desk?
Does she keep her super-sized soft drink
or snacks in plain view? The front desk
should be pristine.
miss.
• Floors. Be aware that wax buildup can
— Donna Smith, MT, CASC
make even clean floors appear soiled,
especially in corners and along the edge of
once before closing, check stacks in the
baseboards. The cleaning crew at one of
waiting room, pre-op and PACU to ensure
my former facilities didn't do a good job of
issues are evenly distributed.
maintaining the floors, and wax began to
• Front desk. If it sits behind a glass win-
collect. As a result, our patient satisfaction
dow, is the window covered with an exces-
scores dropped as comments mounted
sive number of signs that indicate, for
about the uncleanliness of the center. We
example, where patients should sign in?
changed cleaning companies and saw
First, limit the amount of signage patients
patient satisfaction scores rebound.
J A N U A R Y 2013 | S U P P L E M E N T
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O U T PAT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E
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