Award-Winning Customer Service Patient Access Services January 2011 1
Outline Introductions Stanford University Medical Center Stanford Hospital & Clinics (SHC) Service Excellence Program Customer Service Initiative (CSI) Program Overview Achievements Sustainability Summary & Key Points Questions 2
Introductions Anna Dapelo-Garcia is currently the Administrative Director of Patient Access Services (PAS) at Stanford Hospital & Clinics in Palo Alto, California. She has over twenty years experience in the healthcare industry specific to revenue cycle operations. She has a BA in management from St. Mary s College in Moraga, California and is currently working on a Master s in Public Health at the University of San Francisco. In 2004, she was selected as the Stanford Hospital & Clinics (SHC) employee of the year and PAS was the recipient of the Malinda S. Mitchell Award for Service Quality at SHC in 2008. She was selected as a SHC Fellow in the first class of the SHC Leadership Academy in 2009. Anna contributed to the development of a hospital-wide customer service initiative, Stanford Hospital & Clinics Service Excellence Standards Guide 2007. Jenny Salinas is currently the Emergency Department (ED) Registration Manager of PAS at SHC. Prior to that she was the manager of the Financial Counseling unit of PAS. She is a recent graduate of the first Leadership Academy at SHC, and was selected as the Employee of the Month for SHC in October 2007. She is a graduate of University of California at Santa Cruz with a BA in Sociology. Dennis Barnard is currently the Senior Planning Specialist of PAS at SHC. Prior to that he was with AtWork for ANSOS and ORSOS. In addition, he was on the Regional Staff and an Assistant Administrator at Kaiser Santa Theresa. He holds a BSIE and an MBA from Stanford University. 3
4 Stanford University Medical Center 465 Beds 23,779 Inpatient Discharges 407,488 Clinic Visits 48,748 Emergency Visits 800 Physicians 4
SHC Service Excellence How it all began In January 2007, approximately 30 hospital staff came together in a day-long work session to develop and define what the SHC Service Standards should be. The standards, characteristics, behaviors and the background information they formulated have been written and published for training and reference purposes. 5
Service Excellence Standards Standard #1: Compassion and Caring Having a positive attitude avoid negative emotions verbally or with body language Acknowledge patients and customers in hallways and waiting rooms by making eye contact and smiling Standard #2: Professionalism and Pride On-Stage versus Off-Stage Professional Image
Service Excellence Standards Standard #3: Teamwork Being open to new ideas and suggestions from your teammates Supporting your department as well as other departments Standard #4: Skillful Communication Greeting others, introducing yourself, excusing yourself when leaving Recognizing language barriers and making efforts to overcome them
Service Excellence Program All SHC staff required to attend training, approximately 6000+ employees After all existing staff trained, Senior Leadership conduct training for all new hires during orientation Additionally, each department leader expected to integrate program standards into their operations All Patient Access Services (PAS) Managers attended the Service Excellence Program and asked, What can we do next?
Service Excellence and PAS Acknowledged that real change and staff commitment to the Service Excellence standards could not be a topdown initiative and that engagement with the program needed to come from the staff Each PAS Manager identified staff that could be a Customer Service Champion to make the Service Excellence Program their own First meeting scheduled with staff to begin process What does customer service mean to you? How can we make a difference? What do you think we need to do? 9
CSI Objectives & Motto To complement the SHC Service Excellence Program by providing superior customer service. To improve patient satisfaction scores for courtesy of admission staff as well as organization of the admission process. We are the first connection to a lasting impression - CSI Patient Access Services 10
Customer Service Champions Gary Yurong Surgical Admissions Unit Donna Chung Ancillary Registration Carolann Yusi Ambulatory Treatment & Procedure Celia Valencia Financial Counseling Lilia Lopez On-Site Access Scott Fitzpatrick Access Unit Sandy Nussbaum Access Unit Rocelyn Villanueva Pre-Certification Unit Theriza Freddie Pre-Billing Unit 11
CSI Customer Service Champions 12
What is a PAS Customer Service Champion? Model excellent customer service skills Commit to excellence Embrace, wear and own excellent customer service Be a business professional Adhere to the Patient Access Services (PAS) dress code standards Be conscientious of their verbal and non-verbal communication Be conscious of the diversity of the organization, our patients, and be sensitive to our patient s needs Have a positive attitude Demonstrate teamwork Know and model the SHC Vision and Mission Statements 13
CSI Champions Feedback Being picked as a Customer Service Champion made me feel appreciated and acknowledged for my efforts. I felt tingly inside because my role is important to the Hospital and to our patients. -Lilia Lopez, OSA Main Admitting Representative When I was told that I modeled excellent customer service standards, I was pleasantly surprised. I realized that the bar was getting set higher and I had to continue to be prepared and engaged with our patients and,even more importantly, with my team. -Gary Yurong, Patient Admitting Representative Ancillary I was flattered, felt proud and excited about being part of the Customer Service Task Force. -Carolann Yusi, Patient Admitting Representative Ancillary I felt like I had received the Gold Star and it was nice to be acknowledged. For me it means that I want to be the best and that I have a voice about what is happening in Patient Admitting and that management cares about what I think. -Donna Chung, OSA Main Admitting Representative I was pleased to know that I was chosen to be part of the Customer Service Task Force. I will bring forth my strengths for the group and I will put on my thinking cap. -Celia Valencia, Financial Counselor Representative
SHC Service Excellence Standards & PAS Customer Service Initiative Compassion and Caring Meeting and Greeting Cultural Diversity Outstanding Teamwork Recognition (including PAS Newsletter) Gallup Survey Seamless Transitions Skillful Communications Verbal Communications Non-Verbal Communications Service Recovery Distinguished Professionalism and Pride Dress Code 15
1 st Session Director s Welcome Roundtable Why are you in healthcare? Why do you feel excellent customer service is important? CSI Objectives SHC Mission, Values & Vision SHC Service Excellence Program Customer Service Champions Cultural Diversity Work Guidelines Professional Image 21
1 st Session 22
2 nd Session Homework Review How did you feel about being selected for CSI? How do you think the SHC Mission, Vision, Values and Service Excellence program relate to your role at SHC? How Do We Communicate? Meeting and Greeting Service Recovery Emergency Department Customer Service Video 23
Service Recovery Matrix 24
Commitment Pledge EMPLOYEE COMMITMENT PLEDGE Patient Admitting Services employees are the most important resource in our service commitment to our patients. As an employee, I embrace Stanford Hospital and Clinics Service Excellence Standards of Exceptional Compassion & Caring; Outstanding Teamwork, Skillful Communication and Distinguished Professionalism and Pride. As an engaged and committed employee of Patient Admitting Services, I will strive to provide excellent customer service by abiding by the guidelines. I acknowledge having received a copy of the Customer Service Initiative guidelines. Pertinent information contained in these documents was discussed by my manager (or designee) on. Employee s signature Date Manager s Signature 25
Customer Service Initiative Results 100 99 98 NRC Picker Courtesy of Admission Staff Rated by all inpatients, including ED patients Monthly 2007-2009 Implemented Service Alerts, and Professional Image Program 97 NRC Picker Score 96 95 94 93 High winter census causing longer waits for admission High July- Aug census causing longer waits for admission 92 91 90 Aug-07 Oct-07 Dec-07 Feb-08 Apr-08 Jun-08 Aug-08 Oct-08 Dec-08 Feb-09 Apr-09 Jun-09 Aug-09 High winter census causing longer waits for admission Positive Score NRC 75 % Linear (Positive Score) CSI Beginning 26
Sustainability Service Excellence culture through monthly meetings with the CSI Service Champions Continuous review of Press Ganey Scores Unit-specific service huddles Utilization of Epic s Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System for reporting and recovery of service issues Research of other service programs and literature 27
Sustainability Continuous Training of New Hires Each CSI Champion sent a personal invitation to a new PAS employee Each new member/student introduced to the program via two training sessions Each CSI graduate Receives a certificate of completion Invites the next person for training Completes an end-of-program evaluation form 28
Achievements Presentation to the SHC Senior Leadership Management Meeting, November 2007 Recipient of the Malinda S. Mitchell for Service Quality, November 2008 Past president and CEO of Stanford Hospital and Clinics Annual award program honored to a department that demonstrates excellence for providing superior patient care and experience First department of the SHC Finance division to receive this prestigious award Presentation to Kaiser Northern California Region, November 2010
Summary & Key Points Access and Revenue Cycle Leaders define the patients first impression of their healthcare experience Employee Engagement is Key Lead, follow, or get out of the way Peer-to-Peer Influence is Powerful I am committed, motivated and focused I am PAS my feeling is that we are the first connection to a lasting impression Management and Staff Synergy The proverbial line between management and us has been eliminated and we are working as a team (management walks the talk ), e.g. blazers worn by all, staff involved with reporting on patient satisfaction scores, staff involved and, at times, lead efforts to continue process improvements
Customer Service Initiative Questions? Thank you for your time! 31