For the past two years, Detroit-based Henry Ford Health System has focused on creating a service culture that would give patients a consistently positive experience at all sites of care within the system. This move toward a service culture is driven by the nature of the health system and the trend of consumerism in healthcare. "We deliberately use the term 'customers' because we are a large, diversified organization where we serve many customers that are not patients," says Sven Gierlinger, vice president of hospitality and service culture at Henry Ford Health System. "Overall, healthcare is becoming more consumer-oriented and consumer-focused. Patients are moving from patients to consumers of healthcare goods and services. They're more educated, more informed and have better decision-making powers."
In response to this trend, Henry Ford Health System is building a culture around excellent, consistent service across the organization. One of the fundamental building blocks of a service culture is communication. Mr. Gierlinger describes how a framework for communication helps leaders, physicians and staff create an experience for patients that builds loyalty and satisfaction.
Communication: The AIDET model
Henry Ford Health System trains physicians and staff on the AIDET communication model from the Studer Group. Under the model, every interaction with patients includes five actions:
• Acknowledge. Acknowledge customers by name and make eye contact.
• Introduce. Introduce oneself by name and title to customers and explain one's role in customers' experience at the health system.
• Duration. A timeline should be given when possible so that an individual has a realistic timeframe for a procedure or wait time, even if it will be lengthy.
• Explanation. Explain what services customers will receive and encourage them to ask questions.
• Thank. Thank customers for choosing the organization.
This framework helps ingrain a respectful and mindful approach to serving patients, which supports a service culture.
Measuring service culture
To determine how the system's service culture is progressing, Henry Ford leaders analyze responses to patient satisfaction surveys, such as the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems and Press Ganey surveys. Leaders look at the questions related to courtesy, respect and communication to measure service culture. For example, a question on HCAHPS asks patients if staff explained the purpose and side effects of new medication, which corresponds to the "explanation" component of the AIDET model. Henry Ford Health System combines scores on relevant questions to create an AIDET metric at the unit level, which gives an indication of the strength of the service culture throughout the organization.
In addition, hospital leaders conduct weekly team rounding where they ask patients how physicians and staff have communicated to them. For instance, leaders may ask if caregivers are introducing themselves, according to Mr. Gierlinger. Leaders also talk to staff about their communication practices and bring this information back to the leadership team to discuss successes and challenges.
By focusing on communication as a basis of a service culture, Henry Ford Health System can improve patient satisfaction and create a consistent experience across its sites of care.
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In response to this trend, Henry Ford Health System is building a culture around excellent, consistent service across the organization. One of the fundamental building blocks of a service culture is communication. Mr. Gierlinger describes how a framework for communication helps leaders, physicians and staff create an experience for patients that builds loyalty and satisfaction.Communication: The AIDET model
Henry Ford Health System trains physicians and staff on the AIDET communication model from the Studer Group. Under the model, every interaction with patients includes five actions:
• Acknowledge. Acknowledge customers by name and make eye contact.
• Introduce. Introduce oneself by name and title to customers and explain one's role in customers' experience at the health system.
• Duration. A timeline should be given when possible so that an individual has a realistic timeframe for a procedure or wait time, even if it will be lengthy.
• Explanation. Explain what services customers will receive and encourage them to ask questions.
• Thank. Thank customers for choosing the organization.
This framework helps ingrain a respectful and mindful approach to serving patients, which supports a service culture.
Measuring service culture
To determine how the system's service culture is progressing, Henry Ford leaders analyze responses to patient satisfaction surveys, such as the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems and Press Ganey surveys. Leaders look at the questions related to courtesy, respect and communication to measure service culture. For example, a question on HCAHPS asks patients if staff explained the purpose and side effects of new medication, which corresponds to the "explanation" component of the AIDET model. Henry Ford Health System combines scores on relevant questions to create an AIDET metric at the unit level, which gives an indication of the strength of the service culture throughout the organization.
In addition, hospital leaders conduct weekly team rounding where they ask patients how physicians and staff have communicated to them. For instance, leaders may ask if caregivers are introducing themselves, according to Mr. Gierlinger. Leaders also talk to staff about their communication practices and bring this information back to the leadership team to discuss successes and challenges.
By focusing on communication as a basis of a service culture, Henry Ford Health System can improve patient satisfaction and create a consistent experience across its sites of care.
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