Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.
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F A C I L I T Y C L E A N L I N E S S NEW PERSPECTIVE Don't Forget to Look Up What Do Your Patients See? are bombarded with when they enter your facility. Second, if you do need to hang signs, don't simply tape up sheets of paper. That looks cheap, and the signs will fray or tear before long. Instead, have signs pro- Put yourself in their shoes to notice the not-so-obvious ways to keep your facility clean. fessionally made. At the very least, laminate typed copy on colored sheets of Donna Smith, MT, CASC | Eastaboga, Ala. T paper for an inexpensive way to achieve a hink about it: Patients are wheeled throughout your facility on stretchers during most of their stay, flat on their backs looking up at the ceiling. Walk your WELCOME SIGHT Your front desk and waiting room set the tone for patients' overall experiences. R professional look. If you have brochures on display, place them in plastic holders instead of stacking them freely on the desk. halls and look up to see what they see. Even better, have one of your staff members wheel eimbursements to hospitals are after entering your facility will think your you around the facility on a stretcher. Keep an now tied, in part, to what patients staff is disorganized, and question the qual- eye out for water stains, chipped tiles and cob- say on satisfaction surveys about ity of care you provide. First and foremost, webs, which cleaning service crews often the cleanliness of the facilities. But clean is the restrooms need to be spotless. They may start out that way in the morning, but and how patients view your facility is para- check several times throughout the day to mount to its ultimate success, regardless pick up paper towels and quickly wipe of the quality measures in place to monitor down surfaces if need be. strewn across the receptionist's desk? miss. clean, whether you run an HOPD or ASC, Do patients see piles of medical records it. Take a couple of hours to look at your Yes, believe it or not, the condition of facility from a patient's perspective. Here magazines in your waiting room matters. are some things to take note of, because Ensure they're not ripped, covered with your patients surely will. spill stains or long outdated. Patients and • Waiting room. You only get one chance their families tend to take magazines with to make a first impression. Patients who them as they travel throughout your facili- see a clutter-filled waiting room seconds ty. A couple times throughout the day, and 4 6 SUPPLEMENT TO O U T PAT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E | J A N U A R Y 2013 Does she keep her super-sized soft drink or snacks in plain view? The front desk should be pristine. • Floors. Be aware that wax buildup can — Donna Smith, MT, CASC make even clean floors appear soiled, especially in corners and along the edge of once before closing, check stacks in the baseboards. The cleaning crew at one of waiting room, pre-op and PACU to ensure my former facilities didn't do a good job of issues are evenly distributed. maintaining the floors, and wax began to • Front desk. If it sits behind a glass win- collect. As a result, our patient satisfaction dow, is the window covered with an exces- scores dropped as comments mounted sive number of signs that indicate, for about the uncleanliness of the center. We example, where patients should sign in? changed cleaning companies and saw First, limit the amount of signage patients patient satisfaction scores rebound. J A N U A R Y 2013 | S U P P L E M E N T TO O U T PAT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E 4 7