NYS Empire Quality Partnership “Improving Customer Service Programs through Utilization of Customer Satisfaction Tools” Deborah J. Urbank, LNHA ElderWood Health Care at Lakewood Hamburg, NY

ElderWood Health Care at Lakewood 166 bed facility Western New York suburban location just south of Buffalo Opened in 1985 Offer skilled nursing and subacute rehabilitation

Initial Phases of Survey Process Initially used a homegrown product Met with barriers  Limited benchmarking  Did not ensure anonymity for customers  No correlation to overall satisfaction  Study of data was cumbersome

Enhanced survey tools Began using a national vendor in 2005  Long term care residents and families Annually  Short term care residents Upon discharge  Employees Annually

Advantages of new process National, state, and corporate benchmarks Ensures reliability and anonymity of data Correlation between individual survey criteria and “overall satisfaction” and “recommendation to others”  Priority Action Agenda Individual customer groups  Ability to focus on differing customer needs

Data Processing Data brought to Continuous Quality Improvement Committee (CQI)  Interdisciplinary team with all facility departments represented Priority Action Agenda items reviewed Entire CQI team brainstorms Action Plans determined Action Plan Team Leaders assigned

Action Plan Progression Action Plan Team Leader takes responsibility for…  Recruiting supporting team members – management or frontline  Developing plan using process improvement method - i.e. Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA)  Reporting progress to CQI Committee

Process Improvement Method (PDSA) Plan is developed –  Root cause analysis used to decide on course of action. (Why? Why? Why?) DO - Carry out the plan. Study – how well did the plan work?  If desired results achieved – proceed to Act  If not – go back to plan and start over Act – Incorporate successful plan into processes

Barriers Met and Resolved Obtaining sufficient data  Recently began considering long term care resident and family congruently for reliable response data  Customer comments used to further investigate criteria responses  Process revised to ensure every short term care resident receives survey prior to discharge  Raffle giveaways to encourage employee response

Impact of Customer Service Surveys Survey results are linked to improved customer service  Survey results are obtained  Processes are developed based on results  Processes incorporated into systems  Systems produce desired results

The rest of the story…. Formal survey results are used to develop systems to please our customers but… Informal day to day listening has been equally important Strive to keep abreast of changing customer needs

Role of Staff in Customer Service Core value based staff training has been an integral factor Happy, contented staff produce satisfied customers Staff are empowered to listen and respond to customer needs and desires

Customer Service Programs Family Forum Family Orientation Customer Relationship Management Program ElderBridge Unit Liaison Make A Wish Pass It Forward

Results: Long-term care Family/Resident Recommendation to Others

Results: Long-term care Family/Resident Overall Satisfaction

Results: Short-term care Recommendation to Others

Results: Short-term care Overall Satisfaction

Next steps Continue with current process which includes using the national vendor Incorporate specific questions focused on person-centered care Use survey results to direct culture change initiative