To ease the inevitable tensions of a hospital stay while freeing medical staff to provide care, Tanner Medical Center in Carrollton, Ga., has hired eight patient advocates to serve as liaisons between patients, their families and caregivers.
The first advocate began in June 2007 in the intensive-care unit, and 156-bed Tanner has since added a position dedicated to the emergency room and six others who split time among the remaining inpatient and outpatient areas of the hospital.
Patient-satisfaction scores as measured by Press Ganey Associates have soared since then. Between June 2008 and June 2009, the hospital went to the 91st percentile from the 8th for ambulatory surgery, to 91st in the emergency department from 35th, to 83rd in total outpatient from 45th and to the 99th percentile in inpatient departments from 67th. For their achievements, Tanner was awarded the Spirit of Excellence Award for Service.
Read about the honorable mention in the service category“The advocate, more than any position, because they truly are the face of our organization while the patients are here, it's critical that they are able to exceed every standard in that handbook,” says Jeff Jennings, senior vice president of operations and chief operating officer.
The patient-advocate part began thanks to Michelle Pollard, a woman with Down syndrome, and her mother, Nancy. The pair were a fixture in the ICU during the last months of Michelle's life, Jennings says.
“Nancy became, in some respects, the grandmother of the unit,” Jennings says. “When Michelle passed away, we approached Nancy to become part of the Tanner family. Nancy had great insight because she had lived with us for a period of three years when Michelle was beginning to reach her end-of-life stage. We thought, who better to carry the banner?”
That familial feeling has continued among other patients and their advocates, Jennings says. “There's a connection that doesn't end.”
“They have definitely demonstrated the value of an advocate working with families, to support their overall culture,” says Laura Barnes, vice president for patient-care services at East Tennessee Children's Hospital, Knoxville, and a judge for the Service category.
Serving a once-rural area west of Atlanta that has grown quickly in the past quarter-century, Tanner does not want to lose its personal touch, Jennings adds. “We really try to take care of the whole patient and not just the healthcare issue,” says Chris Brainard, director of service integration. “We want to make sure we do the right thing and give that extra level of service.”
