The Planetree philosophy: A recipe for satisfaction
Griffin Hospital in Derby, CT, routinely gets a 97% to 100% patient satisfaction rating on a monthly telephone survey of about 15% of discharged patients. More than 80% of patients say they are willing to return to Griffin Hospital and would recommend the services to their family and friends.
The hospital has a low turnover rate among employees and is the only hospital in American to be named to Fortune magazine’s list of the "100 Best Companies to Work for in America" four years in a row.
The hospital’s salaries and benefits are competitive but some may be somewhat below average, says Bill Powanda, vice president of the hospital. "However, patient satisfaction equals job satisfaction and employee satisfaction. Health care workers enter the profession because of their personal motivation to help people. When there are high patient satisfaction levels, they leave at the end of the day with high job satisfaction," he adds.
At the center of Griffin Hospital’s approach to care is the Planetree health care model, established by Angelica Thierot, an Argentinean who felt the American health care system was dehumanizing and set out to change it.
Griffin Hospital adopted the Planetree model of care in the 1990s. "We were seeking an organization committed to consumer-driven, patient-centered care," Powanda says.
The Griffin Hospital facility doesn’t look like a typical hospital. Each floor of the hospital has a residential kitchen that may be used by families and patients to heat leftovers or cook an entire dinner.
Volunteer bakers who bake cookies and breads for the patients also staff the kitchen.
On each floor, there’s a patient lounge where patients are regularly entertained by musicians, comedians, magicians, and other performers as part of the hospital’s arts and entertainment program, as well as a quiet lounge with a huge fish tank. Patients are encouraged to leave their rooms whenever they can.
The hospital has a pet therapy program with 23 certified dogs and volunteers who come in regularly to visit the patients.
The hospital has a massage therapy program and patient room service, which allows them to have items delivered from the gift shop and cafeteria.
The staff always are willing to do whatever the patient needs. "We have filed income tax forms for some of our patients," Powanda says.
Patients are encouraged to use the hospital’s medical library with its large collection of lay materials and professional journals. More than 8,000 patients have library cards, and they make 25,000 visits a year.
Griffin Hospital employees are trained to look at the hospital experience through the patients’ eyes by going through a two-day Planetree retreat during which they are the patients. The employees stay in an austere setting with no privacy and have one choice of entrees for each meal.
"They go through a series of exercises to put them in the patient role. It’s been extremely helpful to changing our culture to a consumer-responsive one," Powanda says.
Griffin Hospital in Derby, CT, routinely gets a 97% to 100% patient satisfaction rating on a monthly telephone survey of about 15% of discharged patients. More than 80% of patients say they are willing to return to Griffin Hospital and would recommend the services to their family and friends.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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