At Potomac Valley Hospital (PVH), we strive to treat each patient like a member of our own family. To further this vision, PVH is focusing on creating an exceptional patient experience for every patient. “The goal...is to create a culture of patient and family-centered care at Potomac Valley Hospital, resulting in exceptional patient experience of quality, safety and satisfaction,” says Senior Director of Inpatient Nursing, Teresa White, RN.
Earlier this year, White attended the Certified Patient Experience Professional course put on by the Patient Experience Institute, an international certifying body for healthcare providers. The training gives medical professionals the skills to cultivate positive experiences for patients and families.
White is setting the “Exceptional Patient Experience” program into motion at PVH by focusing on quality communication. New ideas include bedside shift reporting and purposeful hourly rounding. The act of including patients and families at bedside ensures that all concerns get addressed and patients feel engaged in their own care. Patients will also receive post-discharge follow-up calls, to make sure they are continuing to get any planned home care. Expect to see more patient centered initiatives starting all around the hospital.
“Communication is a vital piece of the healthcare puzzle. It is essential to establish excellent communication between the medical staff, patients and their families. By bridging this potential gap in communication and allowing the patients to be more engaged in their care, we hope to see not only more favorable patient experience outcomes, but better patient outcomes as a whole,” says Mark Boucot, President and CEO of Potomac Valley Hospital.
Potomac Valley is a 25-bed critical access hospital employing more than 200 healthcare professionals, including some 50 local physicians and 24/7 physician coverage in the emergency room. It officially became a member of the West Virginia University Health System in 2014.