CARIBOU — Patients visiting Cary Medical Center to receive hospital outpatient services or those who have been admitted to the hospital have high expectations for the care they will receive. In fact, patient expectations for services rendered by Cary Medical Center often exceed the 90th percentile as measured by AVATAR, an international customer service survey company based in Orlando. Cary has recently learned that even given these high expectations, once again in 2009, the hospital was able to exceed patient expectations and received a special award. Cary has earned such recognition for five years in a row.
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Cary Medical Center Complex in Caribou
Kris Doody, RN, and CEO at Cary said that providing consistent, high quality care has become a tradition at the hospital and staff on the front lines makes it happen.
“We can’t say enough about the people who serve our patients every day and who are responsible for this very special recognition. When patients have high expectations about their care prior to coming to the hospital it means that they have heard about the quality of care we provide from others or it is based on their own personal experience. The ability of our front line staff and all of our support departments to year in and year out exceed those expectations is evidence of a culture of quality.”
According to AVATAR International this special award is presented to facilities whose overall score exceeds expectations. The Exceeding Patient Expectations Award is based on three critical items gauging patient expectation about quality of care, reliability, and customization before the visit.
Regan Gallagher, D.O, and chief of the medical staff at Cary, said that it takes a total team effort to earn the high ratings that patients give to their experience at the hospital.
“One of the unique qualities at Cary Medical Center is the fact that we have built a culture of team,” said Gallagher who is an obstetrician gynecologist with Pines Health Services. “Our doctors, nurses, therapists, technicians and all the support staff must stay focused on the patient and family. That is at the heart of our mission, that ‘We are caring people committed to excellence in patient centered care.’”
Shawn Anderson, chief operating officer at Cary Medical Center and who is administratively responsible for the AVATAR survey program at the hospital said that staff at Cary set high expectations for themselves and it is an organizational way of life.
“We truly believe that we have some of the finest health care professionals in the country serving patients and their families here at Cary. When we bring on a new employee in any department our expectations are high and we want people to have a sense of ownership in the culture of caring that has been built over nearly a century of caring,” he said. “The consistent recognition for exceeding customer expectations is evidence that this level of quality has become a way of life here.”
Anderson pointed out that the hospital is not resting on its laurels and is planning to continue to focus on customer service training.
“We plan to raise the bar even higher,” he added. Anderson is working with support services departments with a goal of achieving 5-Star Customer Service. “Every day the expectations of our customers grow higher and we are committed to exceeding those expectations on a continuing basis.”