Improvements continue at MHSC

Improving patients’ experiences is something the Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County has created a plan to address.

During the Sweetwater County Commissioners meeting Tuesday morning, MHSC CEO Irene Richardson gave a presentation to the board about the hospital’s strategic plan.

According to Richardson, MHSC has created a three-year, strategic plan that identifies areas where the hospital needs improvement.

Currently, the hospital is focusing on five key areas including, patient experience, quality and safety, community and growth, workplace experience and being financial stewards.

Hospital patient experiences are reviewed and scored by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Based on the responses from patients, it was selected as an area to improve. Richardson said she would like the hospital to move into the 75th percentile for patient satisfaction and above. She said they need a shift in the culture at the hospital. She wants employees to put themselves in the patient’s position and see how they would feel if they were a patient in that particular situation.

The hospital hired a company to assess the hospital and create a plan to address the issues discovered in the assessment. The hospital took the information provided and started hosting trainings and workshops for its employees.

“By the time 60 percent is trained, we should see a shift in the staff,” Richardson said.

The hospital has also hosted patient-advisory meetings. At these meetings, the patients are encouraged to share their experience, whether good or bad. This gives the hospital feedback on where they need to improve.

As for the quality and safety area, the hospital is measured from CMMS on 57 measures and based on those ratings, they can receive a star rating on one through five scale, with five being the best. The hospital was at a 2, but is now at a 4-star rating.

“We’re hoping to maintain and even improve that to a 5 star,” Richardson said.

In the community and growth area, the hospital conducted a community needs-assessment on its website and received 522 surveys back. Based on those survey results, the first area for improvement is behavioral health services in the county, which is an area the hospital is working on.

Workplace experience is something the hospital also wants to focus on by improving internal communication to ensure employees are happy so they can continue to retain their good employees. The hospital has already reduced it’s turnover rate from 26 percent to 23 percent.

As for being financial stewards, Richardson believes if the other four areas are improved, this will follow.

The hospital has also changed its mission statement to reflect the direction it’s going. It’s new mission statement is “At MHSC, we believe in compassionate care for every life we touch.”

With this mission in mind, the hospital will continue to monitor its progress.