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 Summer 2009 Volume 7, Issue 3  Consultant's Corner
Feature Article
Quote of the Month
New Articles / Abstracts
In the News
Upcoming Meetings
For free articles, abstracts, Emergency Care Briefs, and more, visit our Resource Center at PetrackConsulting.com...
New, revised CalmerKids Training Module! Get a new low price, plus become CalmerKids Certified when training is complete. Show me...
Dr. Petrack will be a featured lecturer for pediatric content for the upcoming Core Content in Urgent Care Medicine. This is a 60-hour video CME program for the standardized training and continuing education of healthcare professionals in urgent care medicine. It is being developed in collaboration with the Urgent Care Association of America. More information is available at www.UrgentCareCME.com.
Dr. Petrack and Lisa Perry, our child-life specialist, will be at the Emergency Nurses Association annual meeting in Baltimore, MD, from October 8-10. We will have information about our consulting and training services, as well as discounts for our CalmerKids Training Module. If you're at the conference, stop by Booth 1007 and say hello! |
Consultant's Corner Emory Petrack, MD, FAAP, FACEP
On a recent drive home from a poetry reading, a good friend and I discussed customer service issues. She, being the Director of our local library branch, noted that some of her employees seem to have conflicts with specific types of patrons. One staff member, for example, has a really hard time working with "whiny" patrons. My friend had been working with staff to help them become more aware of these issues and to empower them to "hand off" patrons who get under their skin to other staff members who might not have the same perception.
This got me to thinking about my "customer service" issues. While I wish I had someone to whom I could "hand off" difficult patients, such is not the case. Our discussion led to the subject of this newsletter: overcoming the challenges of providing good customer service.
Feature Article
Overcoming Customer Service Challenges - Personal Reflections
Those of us who provide direct patient care - whether physician, nurse, medic or child life specialist - connect with a wide range of personalities. Unfortunately, things may not always "click," leading to misunderstandings, patient dissatisfaction and complaints.
Of course, some complaints are legitimate, often the result of unmet expectations. We often create our own problems by either setting unrealistic expectations or by not setting expectations at all.
We should not be surprised if patients get upset when we tell them "the doctor will be in shortly" yet he or she takes 30 minutes or more to get into the room. Similarly, patients feel lost and confused about what's going on if we fail to establish ongoing communication about "where" the patient is in the ED process: "We're waiting on your labs; it should be another 45 minutes."
Here are a few more thoughts and suggestions to help you overcome your challenges in this often vexing area:
New Articles/Abstracts
Brief summary of recent new articles and abstracts from http://www.PetrackConsulting.com/articles.html
Magid, D. J., Sullivan, A. F., Cleary, P. D. et al.
This study assessed the degree to which EDs are designed, managed and supported in ways that ensure patient safety. 3,562 clinicians from 65 emergency departments responded to the survey. 62% reported insufficient space for delivery of care most or some of the time, with 82% reporting the number of patients exceeding ED capacity most or some of the time. Half of respondents reported that ED patients requiring ICU admission were rarely transferred to the ICU within 1 hour. This report highlights significant safety concerns for US EDs.
These authors used a computer simulation model to assess the effect on ED length of stay of varying the number of ED beds vs altering the time patients spend in the ED. Although there are always important assumptions to consider in computer simulation models, their results suggest that admitting patients to the floor faster led to an improvement in overall ED length of stay, whereas increasing the number of ED beds did not.
This is a 2 part article that discusses in great depth the issues surrounding ED crowding. The first part discusses definitions, causes and moral consequences, finding that the inability to transfer ED patients to inpatient beds is a root cause of crowding. It then goes on to discuss the ramifications of this major problem. The second part examines barriers to resolving the problem of ED crowding and potential strategies to overcome those barriers.
Upcoming Meetings
October 5-8, 2009, American College of Emergency Physicians Scientific Assembly, Boston, MA About Our Organization
Created in 2003, Petrack Consulting is dedicated to helping physician and hospital
leadership bring excellence to emergency services. We work collaboratively to
fully understand our client's needs, and then address programmatic initiatives
with measurable outcomes. Our unique background in emergency medicine, administrative
medicine, and organization development allows us to create uniquely effective solutions
for enhancing emergency services.
Website: http://www.PetrackConsulting.com |
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