Happy Hospitals

March 2009 - Research from the University of Michigan published in the Journal of Healthcare Management has analysed successful community hospitals and concluded that radical change to traditional hospital management is a key factor, producing significant improvements in patient and employee satisfaction. The study assessed 34 community hospitals in nine states given the Health Care Sector Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, a nationally recognized benchmark. The group were in the top 50 per cent in most quality and satisfaction measures and were frequently in the top 10 per cent of national rankings.

John Griffith said:

"Although the recipients are community hospitals, not large teaching and research hospitals such as the U-M Health System, the set is broadly representative of American health care."

The study found that the biggest element contributing to patient satisfaction was employee morale "which starts with outside-the-box thinking at the very top management levels". For example, patients at a Florida hospital receive a welcome letter with the CEO's signature and home phone number and are visited by the unit's nurse manager, who also leaves cell and office phone numbers.

John Griffith, professor in the School of Public Health explained:

"This personal service doesn't come cheaply, yet the hospitals kept costs low enough to thrive financially on standard Medicare and insurance payments, despite paying employees 'extremely well'. They reward a good job, both with celebration and financially with cash. One of the interesting things about these places is they don't have any nursing shortages. They have enough nurses, well-trained nurses and well-motivated nurses."

The study found that the successful hospitals had certain elements in common with innovative emphasis on "a broadly communicated mission, a supportive learning culture, universal measurement and benchmarking, and systematic process improvement". Priority was given to employee training programs. For example, Bronson Methodist Hospital in Michigan offers more than two weeks annual training to full-time employees (twice the national average).

John Griffith concluded:

"The key issue for the patient is the answer to two questions, 'Will you return and will you refer?' A loyal patient will do both. These places got that in 90 per cent of patients. The usual answer is a little better than half."

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