Mind the Gap: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Improve Communication Between Staff and Family After Procedures

Purpose:
The Safe Timely Effective Efficient Equitable Patient-Centered (STEEEP) process was used to focus on increasing Press Ganey scores related to communication (“information given to family” and “information about delays”).

Relevance/Significance:
In today's hospital culture of value based reimbursement, the Press Ganey survey is an important measure of patient satisfaction. Within a fast paced procedural hospital it can be difficult to ensure effective communication between staff and family members.

Strategy and Implementation:
Staff used a multidisciplinary team approach, which helped stream line the process, especially as it related to consistency and communication. Interventions included: family care cards education, promotion of consistent information provided, hospital-wide education, increased volunteer hours in the waiting areas, and expectation clarification regarding scheduled updates from procedural areas. Also, after implementation, audits of procedural areas were completed to identify gaps in knowledge and practice.

Evaluation:
To date, Press Ganey scores for “information about delays” has risen from 84.7 to 87.1, and “information given to family” fell slightly from 94.6 to 93.2. While there are slight variations from month to month in the Press Ganey scores, fewer patient and family complaints have been noticed, and the implementation is considered successful.

Implications for Practice:
To date, this process improvement system has improved communication between patient family members and staff, as shown by an increased and sustained trend in satisfacton scores. This project can be used as a tool to increase satisfaction scores in procedural hospitals.