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Updated 5:16 AM on Saturday, September 22, 2007

Area hospitals urge friendlier care

Officials hope calls, outreach, reducing patient anxiety will aid system

By APRIL AVISON
Eagle Staff Writer

Local hospitals are implementing practices that involve more intimate patient care in an effort
to improve the area's health system, officials said Friday.

The future of health care involves a philosophy of reverting to an old practice, according to
officials with St. Joseph Regional Health Center and College Station Medical Center. It's a
method that involves techniques for reducing patient anxiety, follow-up phone calls and
outreach to family members.

The issue was discussed Friday when about 200 medical professionals attended a conference
hosted by St. Joseph and the Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Rural Public
Health. Consultant Quint Studer, a former chief operating officer at Holy Cross Hospital in
Chicago, spoke at the event about best practices for addressing patient needs.

Most patients who sue hospitals do so because they've received poor treatment, Studer
explained. That can be corrected by simply taking the time to acknowledge patients' needs and
provide them with information about their doctors, he said.

"It reduces anxiety to introduce your skill set to the patient," Studer told the group of doctors
and nurses. "Tell them you've been there for 20 years. Tell them where you trained. Tell them
who is coming on in the shift change and if you think that person is one of the best in the field."

Such practices are used at both local hospitals, officials said Friday.

"We've adopted those principles, and, of course, it starts at the top," said Melissa Purl, a
spokeswoman for College Station Medical Center. "It makes for a more unified organization.
Patients are our No. 1 concern, and a patient's family is also very important."

Purl added that earlier this week The Med received a "nurse-friendly" designation from the
Texas Nurses Association.

"It means we have systems and programs in place that are above and beyond the regular call
of duty," she said.

Chief Nursing Officer Sherri Welch was in Austin on Thursday evening to receive the award on
behalf of the hospital. The Med is now one of 49 facilities in the state - and the only one in the
Brazos Valley - to have earned the distinction.

Tom Jackson, CEO of The Med, was not available for comment Friday.



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St. Joseph Regional Health Center also has made strides in patient care, winning a 2007
Texas Award for Performance Excellence. But CEO Jack Buckley said there's still room for
improvement.

"We've got to go back and focus on the patient," he said. "We're working with directors and
trying to make sure we have policies that ensure all the patients' needs are met."

Patient satisfaction will increase if a follow-up call is made after an appointment, Studer said,
adding that the number of patients who don't show up for doctor visits could be reduced by 70
percent if a call is made beforehand. Implementing a practice of making phone calls will raise
an organization's quality, productivity and revenue, the consultant said.

Neither of the local hospitals consistently makes follow-up phone calls after appointments, but
after-care is in place for select programs, local officials said.

"We could probably spend more time on post-release visits and relating to patients in that
way," Buckley said Friday.

Officials with St. Joseph and The Med also said Friday that they agree with Studer's principles
for rewarding good employees and getting rid of bad ones.

Public recognition of "high-performing" employees is vital in retaining good workers and thus
providing consistent health care, Studer said during Friday's seminar.

"You have to help people feel that they have purpose, that they are worthwhile and that they
can make a difference," he said. "We do this because we're a group of people who have a
calling. Aren't we lucky?"

Officials who work in upper management ought to be trained in selecting good employees and
should conduct 30-day and 90-day reviews with new workers, Studer said. During those
reviews, new employees should be asked whether the job meets their expectations, what
ideas they have for improvement and which individuals have been helpful to them.

"Most senior leaders make good decisions," Studer said. "It's the communication of the
decisions that is lacking."

Larry Gamm, head of the Department of Health Policy and Management for the Texas A&M
System Health Science Center's School of Rural Public Health, said he thinks Studer's concept
is important for young people to hear before they get into the workforce. Several graduate
students attended Friday's conference.

"[The concept] capsules the ideas and values that we want our students to exemplify and
build," Gamm said. "Health care is extremely complex. There's probably no field of endeavor
that involves more varied skills and population.

"There's a lot of discussion right now about national health policy and health reform," Gamm
added. "The most consistent idea is that any kind of health policy reform will fall short of
expectations without simultaneously implementing the kind of values we've been talking
about."




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• April Avison's e-mail address is april.avison@theeagle.com.




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