Page 10 - SFHN March 2021

Cover Story: Communication Key
When It Comes to Patient Care to Avoiding Malpractice Claims

– What Is Your Secret Sauce?
Continued from page 1 “There’s nothing wrong with asking for
result of misdiagnoses or sub-par out- help,” he added, noting the importance
Every successful service organization has comes, others grow out of patient dissat- of staying current by consulting with
them. Be it the “My pleasure” you hear at every isfaction. trusted colleagues and through the
Chick-fil-A. Or that you will never see a staff “You can be kind and gentle, and still numerous avenues of continuing educa-
member pointing at a Ritz Carlton. Or how 5- be brutally honest,” he said. “If a patient tion. “Medicine is evolving so quickly
star restaurants encourage employees to ‘Beat says that they’re not taking their medica- that it’s difficult to keep up, but main-
the Greet’ by welcoming patrons before they tions, rather than say, ‘It’s okay if you for- taining a practice’s standard of care is
can say a word. Apple, Tesla, Amazon. The list get,’ you need to explain that they are at imperative.”
who have documented service strategies and increased risk, and document that con-
the customer loyalty numbers to match is versation. Informed Consent
impressive, but also remarkably short. Most “Physicians also need to manage and Follow-Up
organizations simply do not get it. If you ask expectations; you can’t promise that a Even if patients sign informed consent
what their secret sauce is to being the brand patient will have a good outcome,” he forms, it’s imperative that physicians
their clients can’t live without, you will either BY JAY JUFFRE added. “One of the best ways to make sure that they understand what
get a superficial response or, even worse, a approach these conversations is to under they read.
vacant stare. The same can be said of health care. Most everyone recog- promise and over deliver.” “I compare it to adding a new app on
nizes the importance of staff engagement and patient care, but very few your phone; most people just scroll
have gone through the trouble of building out a foolproof strategy to Documentation Vital down and hit agree,” said Gompers.
achieve either. For those thinking: ‘I know ours is pretty good, we have a Having a complete and accurate med- “How many people really read and
great hiring, training and recognition program’. Please take an objective ical record is extremely important in pro- understand the consent, especially now
look at key metrics like 90-day survival rate, turnover and (if you have tecting physicians from malpractice that much of it is digital?”
them) employee satisfaction surveys. Do the results reflect high engage- cases, but with increasing use of technol- Because most patients see numerous
ment? For those thinking: ‘All our patients love us!’ Again, look objective- ogy, this can sometimes be an issue. people during a visit, including physi-
ly at your scores, patient feedback, retention rates and how many simply “We used to advise physicians to ‘write cian assistants, nurse practitioners and
never return for another appointment. There are employees who have very well,’ but now many practices are others, it’s important that all providers
been with the same company for years and would never think about going using digital records that are more ask the patient if they have any questions
anywhere else. There, also. are people in this world so loyal to certain checkbox-style than freestyle,” said and document their answers.
brands (and certain medical offices, doctors, and health systems) that they Gompers. “Some people using these sys- “It can be very confusing for patients
would not think about going anywhere else. Develop a sustainable process tems just check off the boxes, which may to go from provider to provider, especial-
that allows you to hire great people and then LOVE coming to work each not tell the whole story, or they are too ly if they are up in years,” said Gompers.
day, then give them the tools they need to create patient loyalty that rivals rushed to include their comments. “This type of follow-up is extremely
the best of the best. Every metric you track will be world class! “If you don’t document what you important to patient satisfaction, and to
talked about with the patient in the med- making sure that the patient understands
Jay Juffre is Executive Vice President, ImageFIRST. For more information on ical record, you can’t prove that it was what they’ve been told.”
ImageFIRST, call 1-800-932-7472 or visit www.imagefirst.com. done,” he added. “It may not seem like a it is also important to make sure that
big deal to check the wrong box or to realistic information is relayed. “If you
skip a step on the EMR’s decision tree, amputate someone’s big toe, you don’t
but if you’re put on the stand, any mis- want to say that they will walk fine and
take could put you on the defensive.” run effortlessly after a year of rehab,”
said Gompers. “It’s better to talk about
Stay Up-to-Date how this procedure will improve their
Another way to avoid medical mal- quality of life, so that these expectations
practice suits is to stay up-to-date on the may reasonably be achieved.”
latest standards of care. “Medicine is
changing all the time, and while the To learn more about medical malpractice
amount of information is voluminous, and healthcare providers’ insurance,
physicians still have to stay on top of contact Bill Gompers at
what’s going on in the profession,” said bill@dannagracey.com, (888) 777-7173
Gompers, giving examples of different or visit www.dannagracey.com.
surgical techniques, diagnostic tools and
medical therapies.

West Boca Medical Center

Announces New Ortho-Fast Track

Program at Emergency Center

for Orthopedic Injuries

West Boca Medical Center will now be offering a new Ortho-Fast Track program for
patients seeking care at its off-campus emergency center in Coconut Creek, after an
orthopedic injury. With this new service, a patient will be connected directly with board-
certified orthopedic surgeon to schedule a follow up appointment, after getting an initial
examination by an Emergency physician.
“West Boca Medical Center is proud to offer this new Ortho-Fast Track program,
allowing for our patients to get examined by a board-certified orthopedist if they suffer
an injury,” said George Rizzuto, chief executive officer for West Boca Medical Center.
“Our Emergency Center in Coconut Creek is open 24 hours a day; seven days a week
and we offer the same high-quality services that you would receive at West Boca Medical
Center’s main campus location. If your condition requires a visit to our emergency
department, please know we are safe, equipped and ready. Do not delay your care.”

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10 March 2021 southfloridahospitalnews.com South Florida Hospital News