First impressions project wins kids’ approval
Warm smiles, good signs welcome visitors
While many quality initiatives go deep inside a hospital, the Lucile Salter Packard Children’s Hospital of Palo Alto, CA, started at the front door. Patients complained that two information desks and poor signage in the front lobby had them lost from the minute they walked in. But it finally came to a head one day when the CEO walked through the lobby and told Nannette McAlister, manager of patient relations and volunteer services, that it was time to make some changes. Just over a year later, the front entry offers visitors a blend of warm welcome and precise directions to their destinations.
Structured for success
The First Impressions . . . Lasting Impressions project employed some precedent-setting processes for the hospital, so McAlister took pains to draw up blueprints with the elements for winning results: Mixed teams, nonthreatening issues, and rapid change.
"It was the first time we brought staff, volunteers, and families to the table," she notes. "We wanted to make it a short-cycle project and provide information as we went. So often these projects just drop dead because people don’t hear what happened to their ideas."
The nonthreatening nature of the issue was extra insurance. "We weren’t singling out a department like you would if you worked on wait times in admitting," McAlister says. Instead, the problem was one people could regard impersonally — a flaw in the building design. Short time lines kept the enthusiasm alive as people anticipated prompt results from their input.
Teams, representing all levels of the organization, made their recommendations over a four-month period. At any discussion, you might find unit clerks, the chief of staff, and front desk volunteers as well as nurses and parents of patients.
Two visioning sessions were held where 40 to 50 participants contributed their ideas and analyzed feedback from Press, Ganey patient satisfaction scores. Press, Ganey Associates Inc., is a South Bend, IN, firm specializing in assessment and enhancement of patients’ health care experiences.
Input was consolidated into four topics, each assigned to a team:
1. information desk;
2. signage;
3. redesign of the front entrance;
4. transportation to the hospital.
A high-level steering committee facilitated the implementation of recommendations. Within a year, the teams saw their recommendations come to life. Following are the processes they used to solve the three issues pertaining to the building design.
As the teams got down to business, they saw that the problems were less rooted in the physical plant than in the systems that navigated people through the plant. As team members from various departments shared insights, they understood how confusion at the front door colored a patient’s entire hospital experience.
While Packard is a children’s hospital, the signage and visitor information concerns pertain mainly to adults with one exception. To guarantee better continuity at the information desk, receptionist positions are now paid instead of voluntary. An information kiosk stands in place of the second information desk. It offers an interactive touch-screen system by TTSS Interactive Products of Rockville, MD, with maps and printout directions such as:
• departments within the hospital;
• tell us what you are here for screens that direct visitors to events and meetings;
• other health care facilities;
• area transportation, hotels, restaurants;
• information in Spanish and other languages.
(See sample screen, p. 47.) One front lobby is for children. "We added a full-time greeter, Candace, and she has made such a difference," says McAlister. On duty for eight hours a day, the greeter escorts the children into the hospital and talks with each one personally as they arrive.
In addition to her personal welcomes, the greeter is an ambassador between the front door and the inpatient units, McAlister explains. "She has a great working relationship with people on all the floors, and she makes sure the wheelchairs are returned to the front door, which was a real problem before the improvement project. When some are missing, she knows who to call in nursing and security."
A former entertainer and hospital volunteer, the children’s greeter takes a personal interest in the patients’ needs. She sees that families in need are referred to the right community service. Her sweat shirts and jewelry sporting Disney characters engage the kids’ attention at first, but after a visit or two, her interest in them captures their hearts, McAlister says.
Last Valentine’s Day, one oncology patient arrived for his treatment with a gift in hand for Candace. She was out that day, so the receptionist sent him to McAlister’s office.
As the patient and McAlister chatted, she asked him what made the greeter so special. His reply, "She smiles at me when I come in. She knows my name; she tells me I am a good person."
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