Patient Relations

Internship
ELIZABETH KIGER
Background Information

• Emory Johns Creek Hospital is a nonprofit facility located in Johns

Creek, GA.
• 150 patient beds
• 7695 inpatient admissions
• 69863 outpatient visits
• Dedicated to patient satisfaction and high quality
care.
Mission Statement

Our mission is to serve our community with

extraordinary care, showing unparalleled compassion to
every patient, every day, within an environment of education
and discovery.
Discharge Calls

• Total of 544 calls. 279 completed calls

• Questions about their experience and discharge
instructions
• Different questions for 3rd floor
Discharge Call Questions

1. Before you went home, you received some discharge instructions about how to take care of
yourself at home, did you have any questions about the instructions? Did you receive a discharge
folder that contained all of your discharge instructions?
2. Were you prescribed any new medications? Have you filled these prescriptions and started
taking the medications yet?
3. Have you scheduled your follow-up appointment with your doctor?
4. We are always looking for ways to improve our services. Do you have any suggestions for
things we could have done better to meet your needs and expectations?
5. Lastly, we like to recognize our staff if they have provided very good care to you. Is there
anyone that stands out that you would like us to recognize?
6. Thank you for taking the time to speak with me today and for choosing Emory Johns Creek
Hospital. You may receive a patient satisfaction survey by mail or email. If you do, I hope that
you will take a few minutes to fill out and return it because we rely on your feedback.
3rd Floor Discharge Questions

1. Do you recall when the physician or staff first start discussing your discharge plans?
2. Did you feel like you had enough time to adequately plan for your discharge?
3. On a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the best, how confident did you feel about the
discharge instructions you were given?
4. How satisfied and informed do you feel you were with the discharge process overall?
5. Is there anyone you’d like for us to recognize from your stay?
6. If there was anything we could have done to make your stay more comfortable, what
would it have been?
Common Trends

• Majority positive comments

• Understaffed
• Long wait times when call for help
• Long wait times to be admitted
• Dirty rooms
• Uncomfortable beds
MRI and Diagnostic Radiology

MRI and Diagnostic Imaging Team unable to meet targeted 95% score.
Initial State- Press Ganey
Determining the Causes

• Phone interviews with patients

• Patient focus group
• Employee focus groups
• Gemba observations
• Reviewing data collection and identifying
priorities with leadership team
Patient Phone Interviews

• Identified patients who answered “Good” instead of “Very Good” on

likelihood to recommend during their survey
• 15 total patients and interviewed 9 of them
Patient Phone Interview Questions

1. Why did you come to Emory Johns Creek for your imaging this time?
2. How would you describe the scheduling and check in process? Can you describe your interactions
with the people at the front desk? Did they use your name or introduce themselves?
3. How did you feel about the setting during your visit such as parking, signs, the waiting room, and
procedure room?
4. How would you describe the staff’s concern for your questions, worries, privacy, and comfort?
5. Have you ever received imaging at another facility, whether an Emory Healthcare facility or not.
How would you compare your experience at Emory Johns Creek compared to those other facilities?
6. On your Press Ganey survey response, you indicated that the likelihood to recommend our facility
was a good instead of very good? Is there anything we could have done differently that would make
you definitely recommend our facility to others?
7. Is there anything else about your experience that you would like to address that we did not go over?
Patient Interview Findings

• Patient felt like staff did not care and was not concerned about his pain
• Unsure how much his copay was until the payment went through
• Two patients felt as if they are not experts on the topic so they could not
accurately recommend hospitals
• Difficult snap gowns
• High costs
• Cumbersome process to get images after
Patient Focus Group

• Reviewed comments from patient surveys and identified detailed

positive and negative comments.
• Chose 24 diagnostic radiology patients and 26 MRI patients
• Sent invitations to these patients through mail and e-mail
• Planned to hold two focus groups via Zoom
• Only 2 participants
Employee Focus Groups

• Conducted 3 one hour long focus groups

• Introductory questions about their background at EJCH and some
changes they’ve seen throughout their time here
• Patient frustrations they have noticed
• When issues arise how are they handled (with both patients and
leadership)
• Change one thing about imaging services
• Time to address things not discussed
Employee Focus Group Findings

• Processes (vetting, trained scheduler, established protocols)

• Personnel (need more technicians, transporters, and a circulator)
• Finances (no cost estimations, long process to get costs, pressured
for productivity)
• Snap gowns
• Facilities (cleanliness)
• Lack of communication
• Lack of comfort
GEMBA Observations

• Both modalities: “Hurry up and wait”

• X-ray observations:
• Out of 5 X-ray observations 4 had no suggestions or complaints
• One patient arrived at 1:50 and did not start procedure until 2:50. Lack of
introductions and connection
• MRI observations:
• The flow
• Patient interactions
• 2 technologists per scanner
Pick Chart
Fishbone
5 Why
Solution Approach
Evaluation

 Discharge calls
 MRI and Diagnostic Radiology Project
Resources

• Maria Fernandez, Patient Advocacy Leader

 Emory Johns Creek Hospital - Atlanta, GA - Emory Healthcare. (n.d.).
https://www.emoryhealthcare.org/ui/pdfs/community/ejch-chna.pdf.