DRASTICALLY IMPROVED PATIENT EXPERIENCE
Background
Pensacola Baptist Health Care sought innovative approaches to improve the patient/family experience and provider-patient communication in the emergency department (ED).
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- Hospital Beds: 358
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- ED Beds: 36 Patient Care Rooms + 2 Crisis Rooms
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- Total Annual Volume (2022): 55,113
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- Level II Trauma Center
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- Designated Stroke Center
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- Designated Head and Spinal Cord Program
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- Daily Physician Coverage (ED): 40 hours
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- Daily APC Coverage (ED): 27 hours
The Approach
Pensacola Baptist Health Care partnered with ApolloMD to place an Emergency Medicine Patient Experience (PX) Coordinator in its Baptist Hospital emergency department. The PX Coordinator served as a liaison between patients, family and the ED team — available to answer questions, respond to patient/family requests, enhance communication, resolve or escalate challenges, perform waiting-room rounds, and interact with the hospital’s advanced practice clinicians (APCs) and triage nurses to facilitate front-end patient flow.
Based on patient feedback, the Patient Experience Coordinator worked closely with the Baptist ED team to improve overall satisfaction scores and transition care for patients waiting for a room. The ultimate result was a drastically improved patient experience.
The Result
Based on 452 patients who responded to a survey over a six-month period from June-October 2022:
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- 99% described the ED team members as professional and courteous
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- 93% knew their Baptist ED caregiver
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- 92% felt the ED team was addressing their concerns
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- 81% said the ED communicated well and kept them informed about their wait
Improved Healthcare Metrics
During the first eight months of the PX coordinator’s placement in the ED, the department’s percentile ranking for the likelihood of patients recommending care to others rose from 21 (April 2022) to 71 (November 2022), compared to other similarly rated hospitals with more than 40,000 patients.*
*Press Ganey percentile data, 2022, for hospitals with more than 40,000 patient visits.
Patient Encounter Notes
“Patient (was) extremely complimentary of entire staff. She said they’ve been attentive, polite, kind, and help her anytime she needs something. “
“Patient said everyone has been nice and informative, and he’s very glad to finally have some answers.”
“Patient said everyone has taken good care of her and saved her life.”
“Patient and daughter very complimentary of two nurses. They said this is the only ER in this area that they will come to….”
“Patient said he worked in quality for over 20 years, and he was impressed with the care he’s receiving today.”
“Patient said her nurse has been wonderful and has even gone above and beyond to bring her a phone charger to use.”
Insight from Josie Inzillo, Patient Experience Coordinator in the Pensacola Baptist Healthcare ED since April 2022:
“There’s something very rewarding about being able to take care of patients and do something positive for them on what they often feel is the worst day of their lives. When patients see me step into their rooms wearing business-casual clothing, and when they realize that I’m there to make sure they’re comfy and well taken care of, they appreciate that I’m there to check on their care and keep them informed.”
