The Christ Hospital Health Network in Cincinnati is looking to the Ritz-Carlton to help it improve patient satisfaction, according to a Cincinnati Business Courier report.
Here are four ways the hospital is learning from the upscale hospitality chain.
1. The health system has been in discussions with Ritz-Carlton representatives to learn more about the company's business practices. According to the report, two executives with the Chevy Chase, Md.-based Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center visited Cincinnati in 2014 to share strategies with 40 leaders at Christ Hospital. Deborah Hayes, a nurse who is COO of the hospital, told the Cincinnati Business Courier at least 600 other people in the health system, including physicians, then weighed in.
2. As a result of the talks and input, a new program called "Excellence in Patient Experience" was rolled out to about 200 leaders throughout the health system, based on some of the Ritz-Carlton's business practices.
3. Part of the "Excellence in Patient Experience" program involves training medical staff to begin an interaction with a smile, according to the Cincinnati Business Courier. "It's all around building those first impressions," Bill Johnson, executive director of patient and guest relations for the health system, told the publication. "Some of it is very scripted. We get very detailed on how those first impressions are to be created. The importance of eye contact and having a smile. Paying attention. Using simple phrases: please, thanks, my pleasure."
4. Christ Hospital's new service standards officially launch next month. However, new employees are already being briefed on the standards, and the health system anticipates the rest of its staff of about 5,300 will be trained on the standards by Jan. 1, 2016, according to the report.
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