Spectrum Health Honored for Outstanding Work in Patient Satisfaction

Spectrum Health is proud to announce today that Press Ganey Associates has named it a 2006 Success Stories Award Winner. Spectrum Health is one of six hospitals in the country to be recognized for its continued commitment to patient satisfaction and health care quality improvement.

“Spectrum Health believes every patient that walks through our doors deserves to be treated with compassion and respect,” said Matt Van Vranken, executive vice president, Spectrum Health and president, Spectrum Health Grand Rapids. “We are honored to be recognized for our commitment to our patients and their families. This work is ongoing and requires constant focus and diligence.”

More than 1,500 U.S. inpatient hospitals currently partner with Press Ganey to help monitor and record patient satisfaction data. It allows facilities nationwide to benchmark their results against peer organizations. The Success Stories Award recognizes facilities that have demonstrated leadership, implemented organizational change and increased customer satisfaction.

“In 2004, our executive leadership team intentionally designed a culture of excellence that gave our patients and their families a sense of care, compassion and respect,” said Kris White, vice president, patient affairs, Spectrum Health Grand Rapids. “This was not a campaign or a project but an ongoing strategic focus on the experience of care through the eyes of our patients and their families.”

Dr. Melvin F. Hall, President and Chief Executive Officer of Press Ganey noted, “We are proud partners of Spectrum Health. Its innovative approach to patient satisfaction helps to drive change in West Michigan and throughout all of health care.”

An example of Spectrum Health’s outstanding patient satisfaction is its Blodgett Campus Center for Joint Replacement. This service within the Orthopedics Department has consistently maintained patient satisfaction scores over 95th percentile for the past year. Post discharge callbacks to patients and personalized note cards from staff for patients as well as hourly rounding of staff to patient rooms are a few ways this superb work was achieved.