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Happy hospital staff = happy patients

Posted on: Friday, 13 February 2009, 20:42 CST

U.S. researchers suggest the best way to improve patient satisfaction in hospitals is to boost employee morale, because happy hospitals make happy patients.

John Griffith, professor in the University of Michigan School of Public Health, examined the attributes of 34 community hospitals in nine states that have earned the Health Care Sector Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, a nationally recognized quality benchmark for various industries.

The community hospitals had the happiest patients and staff, but only because they hospitals departed radically from traditional hospital management, Griffith said.

For instance, a Florida hospital gave patients a welcome letter with the chief executive officer's signature and home phone number. The patients are visited by a nurse manager, who also leaves cell and office phone numbers.

This personal service doesn't come cheaply, yet the hospitals kept costs low enough and thrive financially on standard Medicare and insurance payments, despite paying employees extremely well, Griffith said. 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.

The findings are published in the Journal of Healthcare Management.

Source: United Press International

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