From Dan’s Desk: Feedback is vital for improvement

19 Oct From Dan’s Desk: Feedback is vital for improvement

Every once in a while, I receive telephone calls from former patients asking about a survey they have received and wanting to know if it is legitimate and if we really care about their opinion. The answer to both of those questions is a resounding yes!

As an organization we are on a journey of continuous improvement. We want to be your choice for health care and we want your experience to be exceptional. If we fall short, we want to know about it.  Your open, honest feedback lets us know if we are on track and how we can get better.

We contract with an outside company called Press Ganey to send post-care surveys to our patients.  Patients who use HDH Family Care, our Emergency Room, who are admitted as an inpatient, or who have surgery are candidates to receive a survey. The Press Ganey company compiles the surveys and makes the results available to us on an ongoing basis. We have access to aggregate ratings and individual comments. On a regular basis we review both the comments and the ratings and share them with the leaders and providers in our organization.

Recently our director of primary care reviewed a comment from a patient who had some concerns. This patient had left contact information, so our director called her to get more information. After helping to resolve this patient’s concerns, our director recognized that being clear in our communication is an opportunity for improvement and that has been undertaken as a formal initiative in the clinic.

I thank you for your feedback and invite you to partner with us in our quest for continuous improvement.

Dan Grigg, CEO
Harney County Health District