Pre-op testing center boosts efficiency, patient satisfaction
Streamlining process is ongoing goal
At Columbia Hoffman Estates (IL) Medical Center, the day surgery program which serves between 680 and 990 patients a month has successfully withstood the challenges of competition and managed care by moving patients more efficiently through the process, with continual fine-tuning to enhance customer satisfaction, says Christine Budzinsky, RN, vice president of patient care services.
Working within managed care constraints, hospital officials have found that some time- and cost-saving measures also have resulted in improved patient care and convenience, Budzinsky notes. For example, a preoperative testing center that opened some 18 months ago ensures privacy for patients while moving them smoothly and quickly through the surgical process.
The pre-op testing center consolidates pre-surgery visits and allows patients to arrive later on the day of the procedure, she says.
"We’ve trended [patient reaction] for six months, and it’s been 100% satisfaction" with the pre-op center, says Janet Williams, RN, director of day surgery and post-anesthesia care services.
Previously, patients scheduled for ambulatory surgery would spend two hours walking all over the hospital to obtain lab work, X-rays, and EKGs done during the pre-op visit. Now, the patient has an appointment with one nurse, who draws blood for lab work, performs an EKG, X-ray, and any other required pre-op procedures, and gives instructions to the patient and his or her family, Williams says.
If the patient doesn’t need to come in for pre-op testing perhaps because it’s been done at the doctor’s office there is a "hotline" to one nurse who collects the necessary information and makes sure it’s complete. Patients obtain their instructions for surgery via a scheduled phone call.
Anesthesiologists coordinate patient care
The medical center’s day surgery program has a very close relationship with its anesthesiologists, who act as coordinators of the patients’ care, Williams says.
"We always contact them first if there are any abnormalities in presurgery testing, and they decide whether to notify the surgeon or delay the case," she says. "The anesthesiologist is the primary care physician for these patients."
Patient satisfaction is a major focus at the 17-year-old facility, Williams points out. Surveys are done the day after surgery, and every comment is followed up on, she says.
"Whatever the patient suggests This area was too cold,’ or Couldn’t my family member have been with me at this point?’ we respond to them, write a letter saying that we looked at this or that."
Keeping patients satisfied isn’t the only challenge. As with most health care operations, the day surgery program is affected constantly by managed care primarily the struggle to balance cost containment and quality of care, Williams says.
Sometimes the two blend nicely, as when the medical center provided anesthesiologists and nurses for a shock therapy program at a nearby Columbia Health Care psychiatric facility, she says. Rather than have patients transported back and forth to have the anesthesia administered, the doctors went to them, and the day surgery RNs trained nurses at the psychiatric facility to assist in the procedure.
"We work with other Columbia facilities in our area, meet with them and bounce off ideas, and that’s helped us grow," Williams says.
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