Page 273 - Harnessing the Management Secrets of Disney in Your Company

254 The Disney Way

isn’t. As Susan Frampton told us, “In each Planetree hospital, there is some-
thing different when you walk through the doors . . . the warmth, the whole
atmosphere. It’s understanding the patient’s perspective, knowing that you’re
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creating memories that last a lifetime.”
Planetree provides hospital employees with a level of freedom that allows
them to “go the extra mile” for their patients. Christine Cooper, director of
radiology, cardiology, and neurology at Griffin Hospital, exhibits Planetree
behaviors in arenas that most people would say are beyond her control. On
one very busy day in the radiology department, she was aware that patients
were getting restless with having to wait a long time to be tested. The radiology
department at that time was using an outside company for their mobile MRI
service and expected them to deliver Planetree-style service. One irate patient
decided he could no longer wait for his name to be called and stormed out of
the building. Later that day, he called back to report that he was never com-
ing back because the service was so “lousy.” Chris took matters into her own
hands. Not only did she convince the MRI company to issue $100 gift certifi-
cates to four patients for their aggravation, but she also took time out of her
busy schedule to send personal letters to each one of these individuals. Chris
believes that her partners in delivering patient services must be held to the same
high standards as her hospital lives by . . . now, that’s very “Planetree.”
The Planetree approach has produced dramatic results for Griffin Hospital.
Griffin uses an independent, private marketing research company call center
to conduct patient satisfaction surveys. The center completes 100 telephone
surveys monthly (about 15 percent of discharges) with results reported by the
fifteenth day of the succeeding month. The center captures narrative com-
ments from patients that Griffin’s leadership team finds extremely valuable in
identifying and solving problems. The overall patient satisfaction rating has
averaged 97 to 98 percent for the past five years. Griffin Hospital’s patient
satisfaction ratings are among the highest in the country.
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) recently
announced that the results of its CAHPS Hospital Survey (H-CAHPS), a
standardized survey of hospital experiences, will soon be available online. This
means that the general public may view Griffin’s patient experience/satisfaction
ratings and compare them to other hospitals and national norms/averages.
In a pilot survey conducted for AHRQ, Griffin ranked the highest of all
Connecticut hospitals, and Connecticut ranked the highest of the four pilot
states. As Griffin’s Bill Powanda stated, “Soon there will be a great deal of
pressure on hospital management to become patient-focused. The challenge