Sutter Solano Medical Center Wins National Improvement Award

Sutter Solano Medical Center (SSMC) has been named a 2007 Press Ganey Compass Award Winner. The hospital was recognized in the Emergency Department (ED) award category for the greatest improvement in overall patient satisfaction scores compared to all other facilities being measured.

The Press Ganey Compass Award is a coveted symbol of achievement in the health care industry that is bestowed annually, and SSMC is just one of three facilities in its class (emergency departments under 30,000 annual visits) to receive the honor.

"This is by no means a small feat," says Kim Trumbull, R.N., chief nurse executive at SSMC. "Two years ago we faced several challenges in the ED, including a major remodel project and serious staffing issues, and our nursing and executive teams were restructured—we really had our work cut out for us."

To improve patients’ perception of care, the hospital implemented several service-oriented programs to focus on key areas such as long wait times, courtesy of staff and communication:

• A FasTrac program to quickly triage and care for patients with non-emergent conditions
  
• A throughput committee to focus on bedside registration and immediate bedding to reduce wait times
  
• Phone calls by charge and triage nurses and physicians as a follow-up to discharged patients
  
• Hourly rounding by the charge nurse to check in on patients and family members and inform them of any delays

"This is only the beginning of creating a service-oriented culture at SSMC," says Trumbull. "If we don’t provide our patients with what they want, they’ll go elsewhere, so we’ll build on this success to continually improve our patients’ perception of care."

Press Ganey currently partners with more than 7,000 health care facilities—including nearly 40 percent of U.S. hospitals—to measure and improve the quality of their care. The company’s databases are the largest in the industry, and allow facilities nationwide to benchmark their results against peer organizations. The Compass Award recognizes facilities that show the most improvement over two years in overall patient satisfaction.

"We are proud partners of Sutter Solano Medical Center," notes Dr. Melvin F. Hall, President and Chief Executive Officer of Press Ganey. "Their dedication to continuous improvement serves as a model for all."


Contact:
Russell Neilson, supervisor, communications and marketing, 707-554-5123