Environmental Services Patient Experience Experts Impact HCAHPS

Hospital administrators are looking for strategies to improve HCAHPS scores. Our Environmental Services teams are finding more success through our patient experience experts. At Trinity Medical Center in Birmingham, Alabama, the HCAHPS cleanliness score rose from 70 at the end of last year to a current score of 82, the highest in the hospital’s history. Our onsite Patient Experience Manager has worked to increase knowledge through rounding with the hospital’s CEO. At admission, she visits all new patients, welcomes them to the hospital, and explains the Environmental Services process. She then asks what they would like the housekeeper to focus on when cleaning the room, which the staff then addresses during daily cleans. The Trinity management team has also implemented many of our new patient strategies. They’re using a bulletin board with a mountain graphic and competing climbers to compare HCAHPS scores. It helps all employees understand current scores and goals and compete for rewards and recognition tied to patient satisfaction outcomes. Specific unit action plans ensure the process, and creative messaging to patients ensures the experience.

Laundry & Linen ServicesKeeping Toxins Out of the Laundry

The challenge in laundering healthcare linens lies in how to achieve true disinfection and provide a quality finish while stretching the life of linens to keep costs manageable. Processing plants came to rely heavily on the use of chemicals that accomplished both; however, the hazardous impact of these chemicals on the environment and water supply when discharged was finally recognized following 70 years of heavy use. In particular, surfactants using phosphates and de-staining agents that employed petroleum distillates were labeled hazardous waste by the EPA. Since then, the industry as a whole has come through a true metamorphosis in finding new, greener solutions to meet the quality outcomes for our customers. Crothall has been at the forefront of green innovation in the healthcare laundry industry. Our facilities throughout the nation use no chemicals for processing linens that have been tagged with an EPA protocol for hazardous waste. We sleep better at night knowing that we are doing our best to be good stewards of our environment.

Patient TransportationHRC Featured at Health Professionals’ Roundtable for Strategy

When our clients entrust the transportation of their patients to us, they know they are getting some of the best thought leaders in our industry. Our Hospitality Resource Center (HRC), driven by its proprietary software, is becoming well-known internationally for its multiple functionality; ability to centralize, capture, and track all requests; and for its major impact on productivity. Recently, Regional Vice President Greg Osganian spoke to the Canadian College of Health Leaders, a national, non-profit, professional association dedicated to developing, promoting, advancing, and recognizing excellence in health leadership. The college gathers thought leaders for its HPRS (Health Professionals’ Roundtable for Strategy), and Osganian spoke about how the HRC’s capabilities and future developments can benefit healthcare organizations. His client, Joy Greear, Vice President of Professional and Support Services at Presbyterian Hospital, also joined the panel by video conference to speak on the benefits of Crothall’s HRC for call center management.

Facilities ManagementPeople and Processes Drive Successful Joint Commission Surveys

The Joint Commission and other regulatory agencies expect hospitals to maintain their facilities properly. Crothall ensures that the facilities we manage avoid citations for direct impact violations by continuously preparing for regulatory inspections. Our framework for operational excellence has much to do with our managers’ success: People, Processes, and Performance. Implementation of standardized processes, such as our Building Maintenance Program (BMP) and regular POM audits, ensure ongoing compliance with projects and documentation. We have also introduced mechanical and shop space audits. Floors are cleaned, pipes are painted with direction of flow, and valves are labeled to create a more organized workspace. Recently at a Crothall-managed hospital, a surveyor commented on the organization of the department’s binder and how it made necessary information readily available. However, it is our People who drive these Processes and create successful Performance. Together with our POM leadership and other resources, such as TSIG, our regulatory consultant, we provide our customers with the tools necessary to be ready when Joint Commission walks in the door.

Clinical Equipment ServicesNew Leadership in Clinical Equipment Services: Darrell Chiasson

“Our customers are relying on us to help them address the ongoing uncertainty in Healthcare as well as the decreasing reimbursements,” commented Division Vice President Darrell Chiasson. Our new leader in Clinical Equipment Services started in October 2011, and is quickly applying his 20 years of experience from Philips Healthcare to form client-based goals for the division. “Our role is to partner with our customers in a way that helps them provide the best healthcare possible to their patients, and we address the cost of support services by leveraging our overall workforce, delivering savings that allows them to continue to operate.” To do that, Chiasson is looking for ways to find additional savings through strategic relationships that will complement our offering to our customers. In particular, Chiasson would like to expand the servicing of diagnostic imaging equipment where practical, expanding our value to customers.

Caring HeartsTim Baskerville Raises Voices to Raise Funds

When Community Memorial Healthcenter began the process of raising money for its three new buildings, employees were asked if they would make donations. In response, EVS Tech Tim Baskerville decided to organize a Gospel Concert to benefit the hospital’s capital fund. Tim was able to get 11 Gospel groups to donate their time, and he talked a local college into donating a space for the concert. But it didn’t stop there: Tim was on the radio to promote the CMH Gospel Concert, got concession stands set up, had programs and fliers printed, and introduced the hospital CEO at the concert. The CEO gave an overview of the building project and the hospital’s VP of Marketing told how the community could help. Tim even sang with the last group at the concert. The event was so successful that the hospital asked Tim to do it again next year. Tim did all of this on his time, and is a shining example for others to follow.