Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.
Issue link: http://outpatientsurgery.uberflip.com/i/873929
expectations is where we stand out. We may be small, but in that regard we are mighty." Caring reputation Although it's just 3 years old, the multispecialty outpatient surgery department has already earned a reputation for delivering a patient experience far beyond satisfactory. Whether it's for cataract surgery, general surgery, an orthopedic scope or some other procedure, staff members take a hands-on approach to guiding the patient through the surgical journey from the moment they arrive. A surgery scheduler greets patients at the entrance to the surgery department for registration. The scheduler then escorts patients directly to a private pre-operative room, where they are "handed off" to an RN. There, the patient and his or her family member can relax in recliners with the built-in comforts of massage and heat settings. Once the patient heads off to surgery, a staff member guides the fami- ly member to a beautifully kept waiting area with high-def TVs, refreshments and a digital tracking board so they'll know when a loved one has entered the recovery area. "People really enjoy coming here," Ms. Weihman says. "It has to do with everything from the friendliness of the staff and the cleanliness of the facility to our anesthesia department's involvement in prevent- ing PONV [post-operative nausea and vomiting] and our nurses' fol- low-up phone calls to make sure patients are doing all right and not feeling nauseated." The facility has a simple but effective way to measure how patients feel about the care they receive: a thank-you card that doubles and triples as a quality-assurance survey and marketing tool. The card travels with the patient's chart, and all staff involved in the patient's care — physicians included — sign the card, which is delivered to the 5 6 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 7