Pam Flagler is inundated with data.
And as Clarendon Memorial Hospital's director of quality and case management, she's usually sifting through it, searching for ways to improve lagging areas and quick to identify successful approaches in hopes of replicating it elsewhere.
She's definitely proud of the HCAHPS scores, referring to Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems.
"Every hospital has HCAHPS scores they're graded on," explained Dr. Catherine Rabon, the medical director of the hospitalist program. "We use Press Ganey. It's a consumer score and there's different questions related to the care they receive, from the nursing staff to the cleanliness..."
"To communication with physicians, communication with nurses," Flagler chimes in. "
When a person utilizes the services of CMH, feedback is sought.
Medicare reimbursement fully takes into account quality scores, so no stone is left unturned, so to speak. In looking at CMH's Press Gainey scores, some of the most basic questions -- How do you rate the hospital? -- are there, along with quietness of hospital environment.
Press Gainey, an independent third party, continually conducts phone surveys, and Rabon and Flagler are continually going over the scores with the proverbial fine tooth comb. They're deservedly proud to see upticks on CMH's rating on a scale of 1 to 10 -- 63.9 percent in August to October compared to 66.9 percent for November to January.
Seeing a big upward trend in the area of Recommend the hospital from 63.7 percent for August to October to 79.5 percent for November to January is music to their ears.
Response of hospital staff moved down from 72.3 percent for August to October to 69.2 percent for November to January. Cleanliness of hospital environment jumped down from 82.4 percent to 70.1 percent for the respective time periods.
"We welcome all comments," Rabon said. "We like the good comments but we also need to hear the bad and negative. Because we can't fix it if we don't know if there's a problem. In this age of transparency we're definitely dedicated to making things better."
All told, CMH scores high marks in its peer group as well as being graded against other hospitals of its size (81 beds) nationwide.
"I think we actually provide exceptional care and exceed expectations," said Rabon, whose job as a hospitalist blends clinical care with administrative functions.
Flagler sees how CMH serves surrounding areas as well, and continues to offer new services for a smaller hospital in a rural setting.
"We're fortunate to have a wide scope of services," she said. "From pediatrics to gerontology to specialties like cardiac services and our nursing homes."
The hospital has "beefed up" recruitment efforts, Rabon points out, and has several new providers lined up.
"We're sort of a diamond in the rough, I think," she said. "We have recruited several hospitalists in the last few years, a general surgeon, several ER (emergency room) providers, two pediatricians, a family practice provider, and two cardiologists."
Quality initiatives permeate the entire hospital, Flagler said, and all departments are continually challenged to find new areas of improvement.
"It's definitely a team effort," she said.
Rabon said quality is on the agenda of every meeting she attends.
"We want to make sure it's at the forefront," she said.
