3/11/08

Decisive action and bold goals: the foundation for HCAHPS success.

The HCAHPS freight train is coming!

While the go-live date still seems to be a moving target, the framework around collection and reporting is definitely 'business as usual'.

Now that the mechanics seem to be falling into place, the next step is preparing for the outcome itself.

- Are you satisfied with the results of your dry run reporting?
- How do the results correlate with your internal patient satisfaction reporting?
- What is the likely fallout when the HCAHPS scores go public?
- What's your remedial plan?

Now is the time for decisive action and bold goals!

You can affect a dramatic change in your short term scores ...and it's easier than you might have expected.

The irony is that both the tools and the know-how have been under your nose the whole time. It takes commitment, desire, and discipline to pull it all together, and to stay on message.

Because it's all about accountability, it's a concept that is so fundamental to our training as managers, that it often gets lost in the 'busy-ness' of our daily lives as specialist-managers.

And that's a shame, because ownership is the precursor of accountability; and accountability breeds action, which always produces results.

So, my advice is: affect short term change in your scores...before it's too late, and the public gets to see just how bad (lets face it, that's how you'll be perceived) you are.

Bring your internal accountability systems to bear...make them work for you now
Use the "3 questions" presented in the post below. Engage your team before you're in a desperate situation. Train them on wait to expect. Make them aware of the nuances of the HCAHPS survey (ie, it's really a 'perception of frequency' of service survey).

...Consider the long term, and not just the 'band-aid' of the short-term
Hire a coach to make sure you stay on track, and that your results are delivered.

If you're serious about sustained scores, call James Simone, Senior Vice President at Custom Learning Systems Group (1.800.667.7325) for a conversation about GoalMaster, or the Service Excellence Initiative (www.customlearning.com)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I couldn't agree more!

As the VP of Marketing of a 300 bed hospital, I can tell you that we have in place strategies to 1. Respond to negative HCAHPS scores (although we're confident we won't have to!), and 2. Respond to the poor HCAHPS performance of our cross-town competitor (which we fully expect).

Hospitals that don't take the time to move their scores now are missing the boat!

Michigander Colleague