Creating an exceptional ED patient experience

Emergency Departments are in a new age where quality care must be provided with an excellent patient experience. In 2016, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will fully implement the Emergency Department Patient Experience of Care (EDPEC) as a standardized method of gathering and publically reporting emergency department patients’ experience across the nation.¹

Seeing this as an opportunity to create a culture of excellence in patient experience for their ED, a four-hospital system in Texas contracted with Philips Blue Jay Consulting to identify and deliver process improvement initiatives to achieve their patient experience goals.

After three successful twenty-six week engagements featuring dedicated training, observation and validation, this hospital system was able to successfully enhance the emergency department experience provided to their patients. The hospital systems overall Press Ganey® standard score increased by 27 percentile points. The system adopted methodologies, training program, and process improvement initiatives that will support sustainable success and will continue to foster a culture of excellence.

Through dedicated training, observation, and validation, this hospital system was able to successfully enhance the emergency department experience provided to their patients. The Press Ganey® standard overall score increased by 27 percentile points. The staff has developed a culture of caring and a realization that patient experience and quality of care are synonymous.

All four hospitals had substantial increases in their Press Ganey overall standard rating, nurse rating, doctor rating, overall rating of ED care, and likelihood to recommend. Improvements include: 

• All hospitals increased their Press Ganey standard overall nursing scores.
• Scores regarding “Nurses took time to listen” and “Nurses’ attention to your needs” increased (50 and 53 percentile points in 2 cases).
• All facilities recognized an increase in their Press Ganey overall doctor scores, ranging from 9 to 54 percentile points.
• Increases in all hospitals for “Overall ER Care” and “Likeliness to Recommend”.

The system adopted the methodologies, training program, and process improvement initiatives that support sustainable success and will continue to foster a culture of excellence. This will help to further improve patient experience scores and position continued increases in scores as the culture becomes one of service and quality patient care.