"The Ronan Report" provides insight about the activities at the Western Maryland Health System in Cumberland, Maryland, and about the changes taking place in healthcare today from a CEO's perspective.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Employee Satisfaction

If you ever wondered how strong the link is between patient satisfaction and employee satisfaction, let me assure you that they are inextricably linked. 

During FY10, WMHS was experiencing financial challenges after moving into the new hospital.  The payment environment in Maryland changed dramatically and we had just moved into the new hospital.  Lots of new technology, yet it still wasn't being used to its level of design and capacity.  We struggled and it impacted employees.  We reduced the size of our workforce through attrition and turnover leading up to the opening of the hospital, but it wasn't enough. 

During the second half of FY10 and the first half of FY11, there was excitement with the new hospital and finally being able to benefit from years of planning.  But there was uncertainty due to the financial challenges and the employees were concerned.  That directly affected patient satisfaction.   We worked to reassure staff in the early part of FY11 that the decisions made in planning the operating budget for the year were good ones and that we had turned the corner through our adjustments.  Also, the board took on patient satisfaction as its priority for the year.  Our scores dramatically improved in the second quarter of FY11 and have remained there.  It is a lot of work but it's worth it.

No comments:

Post a Comment