Our clients are using their research to change the way they deliver healthcare and transform their organizations.  Their stories of success provide best practices and valuable education that any hospital can learn from.  Read these powerful stories to pick up ideas on how you can make improvements in your organization.  Do you have a success story you’d like to share?  As a FREE service to our clients, our writer will create and publish the details on the successes you’ve had at your organization. Find out more.

Click below to see Success Stories for:

Patient Satisfaction
Employee Satisfaction
Physician Satisfaction
Community Research

Patient Satisfaction Success

Letting Excellence Do the Talking: An Imaging Department's Success In Thrilling Patients
Mercy Medical Center, Outpatient Imaging, Baltimore, MD

This is the first in a series of articles that will provide a detailed exploration into the successes of Mercy Medical Center's Outpatient Imaging department

Mercy Medical Center's Outpatient Imaging department is a great example of turning insight into action.  Action requires courage.  Knowledge of the data brings with it responsibility to address the issues raised by the data.  When Mercy Medical Center's Outpatient Imaging department was presented with the results from its patient satisfaction research, they had the courage to tackle all the issues head-on.  Not only that, but they had the courage to set aggressive goals and hold themselves accountable to achieve these goals.  [Full Article]

How to Achieve and Maintain HCAHPS Success
Griffin Hospital, Derby, Connecticut
It's not enough to be a top-performing hospital for HCAHPS—to maintain that success, you've got to know exactly what brought you to the top.  Knowing precisely how that success was achieved bestows a roadmap to continued success.  Griffin Hospital is one of the top performing hospitals for HCAHPS in the nation, and they know how they got there and how to stay there.  We conducted an in-depth interview with Bill Powanda, Vice President of Griffin Hospital, to discover how they have achieved such resounding success with HCAHPS.  [Full Article]

Improve Patient Satisfaction Scores with Surgical Patient Advocates
St. Agnes Healthcare: Same Day Surgery, Baltimore, MD
Few things are more frustrating than not knowing what is happening to a loved one in surgery.  If you don't tell families and loved ones what is happening in the OR, you can rest assured that they are imagining what is happening in the OR.  Managing this frustration is possible, however, if you can keep them informed—in a timely manner—of what is happening behind the closed doors.  After all, knowledge is power.  By providing a dedicated Surgical Patient Advocate, St. Agnes HealthCare's Same Day Surgery was able to achieve the 93rd percentile rank in Overall Satisfaction when compared to Same Day Surgery units across the nation, as well as high scores for privacy and physician involvement (based on scores from the September to November 2006 measurement period).  [Full Article]


Why Most Initiatives Fail—and How CHI Succeeds!
Catholic Health Initiative
Certain observations remain fresh and vital, no matter how long ago they were made. The 80/20 Rule (also known as Pareto's Principle) speaks of the "vital few and trivial many," the principle that the ‘vital few’ 20 percent of virtually any endeavor are responsible for 80 percent of the results. Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI) is a system with more than 70 hospitals, yet they’ve managed to succeed system-wide with impressive results time and time again—their Overall Patient Satisfaction results currently stand at 4.28, an improvement from an already-impressive score last year of 4.26. By focusing on the ‘vital few’, the core drivers that create the very foundation of patient satisfaction, over the years they have built excellence from the ground up.  [Full Article]

The Joys and Challenges of Magnet Status:  Bassett Raises the Bar with Magnet
Bassett Healthcare, Cooperstown, NY
Magnet status is an award given by the American Nurses’ Credentialing Center (ANCC), an affiliate of the American Nurses Association, to hospitals that satisfy a set of criteria designed to measure the strength and quality of their nursing.  A Magnet hospital is stated to be one where nursing delivers excellent patient outcomes, where nurses have a high level of job satisfaction, and where there is a low staff nurse turnover rate and appropriate grievance resolution.  HealthStream Research has many Magnet hospitals as clients, and recently our expert analysts compared Magnet clients to all other clients.  The result?  [Full Article]

The Outer Banks Hospital Redifines Excellence in Healthcare
Top-Performing HealthStream Research Client was the Recipient of Four Awards!
The Outer Banks Hospital, Nags Head, NC
Winning even one award is considered a great achievement.  Winning four awards, however is something altogether different.  The Outer Banks Hospital set an aggressive goal of 4.30 for their Overall Inpatient Satisfaction score.  Each period measured saw that goal busted, with a YTD score that was .17 higher than their original goal!  Find out how they achieved this incredible achievement.  [Full Article]


How St. Joseph Medical Center Drove ED Satisfaction and Quality Levels Higher
St. Joseph Medical Center, Towson, MD
HealthStream Research is proud to be a sponsor with St. Joseph Medical Center in improving the way healthcare is delivered in America.  St. Joseph Medical launched a Patient Satisfaction survey with HealthStream Research in June 2003 as part of their "Capacity Maximization and Throughput Initiative."  The purpose of this initiative was both simple and challenging: [Full Article]

When You Are at the Top, What is There to Do and Where is There to Go?
Deborah Hearth and Lung Center, Brown Mills, New Jersey
Deborah Heart and Lung Center is not just your normal success story. They have been performing Patient Satisfaction survey research with HealthStream Research for two years and an Organizational Climate Assessment for the last year, and they have consistently ranked among the best. “This isn’t about going from the lowest percentile to the top—we were already at the top. Our struggle was fighting the tides of complacency,” said Tom Campbell, Director of Marketing and Managed Care. [Full Article]

Employee Satisfaction Success

Employee Satisfaction: One Hospital's Success in Making and Sustaining Improvements
Columbus Regional Hospital, Columbus, Indiana
Columbus Regional Hospital is a 225-bed hospital located in Columbus, Indiana.  Columbus Regional has always performed well on HealthStream Research's Employee Insights survey, and for the past several years they have continued to improve and sustain that improvement.  Three years ago Columbus Regional was performing at or above the HealthStream Research National Norm for nearly every item on the survey.  Today, they are scoring significantly higher than the HealthStream Research Norm on every item on the survey and are performing at or above the 75th percentilefor nearly every item on the survey.  We interviewed Vice President of Professional and Support Services Jim Bickel, Director of Human Resources Joe Turco, and HR Manager Judy Mead to find out how Columbus Regional has been able to make and sustain such improvements.  They believe that leadership, accountability, communication, and retaining good employees are the major contributors to their employees' high level of satisfaction.  [Full Article]

How One CEO Helped Bring a Hospital Back to Life
Saint Mary's Standish Community Hospital
Regardless of their size or location, hospitals across the nation face the challenge of recruiting and retaining loyal, motivated, caring employees.  Their satisfaction helps ensure patient and physician satisfaction and their commitment to quality is essential to the success of the hospital.  After interviewing Saint Mary's Standish Community Hospital's (SMSCH) CEO, Jeff Probus, we learned why this small hsopital in one of the poorest counties in Michigan has made great strides in employee satisfaction and loyalty. [Full Article]

Employee Satisfaction: A Dramatic One Year Turnaround
North Central Baptist Hospital, San Antonio, TX
HealthStream Research recognizes North Central Baptist Hospital (NCBH), located in San Antonio, Texas, for a dramatic turnaround in employee satisfaction.  Mark Clayton, CEO and Susan Monahan, VP of Associate Services described the recent transformation in employee satisfaction at NCBH. [Full Article]

Creating Ambassadors One Employee at a Time
RML Specialty Hospital, Hinsdale, IL
Since our beginning, HealthStream Research has performed over a million employee surveys.  With that kind of volume, patterns emerge.  While there are successful best practices to handle just about any issue, hospitals across the nation do tend to have certain challenges in common.  How do you build trust with leadership?  How can you get employees to be your ambassadors to the community?  RML Specialty Hospital of Hinsdale, Illinois managed to tackle all of these issues with resounding success.  In the latest employee survey, leadership was rated in the 99th percentile, and the areas of benefits, communication, and community orientation all saw incredible scores.  The employees have become highly satisfied, engaged, and dedicated ambassadors for RML Specialty Hospital.  How would you like to have evangalists like these at your hospital? [Full Article]

Three Steps to Excellence: Accountability, Goal-Setting, and Recognition
Orange Regional Medical Center, Goshen and Middletown, New York
Now, to say that Orange Regional Medical Center has a great recognition program would almost be considered a spectacular understatement.  After all, for the question “My manager does a good job of recognizing employee contributions,” Orange Regional Medical Center improved by a staggering 10.7% in less than 2 years, and they experienced a wide range of improvements that exceeded 9% gains!  How?  They accomplished this by setting clear expectations throughout the organization, developing aggressive goals, and further enhancing their comprehensive (and highly unique) recognition program.
[Full Article]

Peninsula Regional Medical Center KNEW They Would Succeed
Peninsula Regional Medical Center, Salisbury, MD
Believing that your hospital can achieve excellence can produce some impressive results, but Peninsula Regional Medical Center (PRMC) has shown us what can happen when a hospital knows it can succeed. PRMC has partnered with HealthStream Researchto perform employee, patient, and medical staff satisfaction programs of research since 2001 and has since then achieved ratings in the 90th percentile for many key areas. [Full Article]

St. Joseph Healthcare Finds Success in Alignment
St. Jospeh Healthcare, Lexington, Kentucky
St. Joseph Healthcare in Lexington, Kentucky achieved their success by aligning their entire organization to its mission, values, and objectives. In 2001, St. Joseph knew they had to make some changes; they were experiencing high turnover and low employee morale. In 2001, they were experiencing a turnover rate of 32.5%, but after implementing organizational changes the numbers for 2004 are down to 19.8%. “We calculate that our reduced turnover brings us $3,680,000 in savings each year,” said Rick Tolson. From 2001 to 2003, they doubled their operating margin from 1.5% to 3.0%.  [Full Article]

Open Doors Raise Scores
Saint Louise Regional Hospital, Gilroy, California
Heroes usually aren’t born that way.  Most often, heroes are just ordinary people thrust into extraordinary circumstances.  In 1999, Saint Louise Regional Hospital found themselves thrust into their own set of extraordinary circumstances, and their success can now be seen in the hallways of their hospital packed with heroes. [Full Article]

Physician Satisfaction Success

Physician Satisfaction: Finding a Common Thread
Homestead Hospital, Homestead, Florida
Located in Homestead, Florida, Homestead Hospital experienced one of the United States' most devastating natural disasters—Hurricane Andrew in 1992.  We interviewed Bo Boulenger, who served as the CEO of Homestead Hospital from 1992 - 2006.  Mr. Boulenger shared his story of how this hospital has coped and grown since Hurricane Andrew to become a hospital with excellent scores on physician satisfaction.  Mr. Boulenger has worked for Baptist Health South Florida, Homestead Hospital's parent organization, for 22 years.  Today he serves as CEO of Baptist Hospital of Miami and Baptist Children's Hospital.  [Full Article]

Physician Satisfaction: A Shared Responsibility Among Hospital Leaders
Lancaster General Hospital, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Located in Lancaster Pennsylvania, Lancaster General has served its community for over 100 years. According to COO Marion McGowan, strong community support is one reason Lancaster General has been able to develop and maintain successful relationships with their physicians. Lancaster General has been the recipient of several prestigious awards through the years, including recognition as one of the 50 Best Hospitals in the U.S. in five categories in the edition of U.S. News and World Report. Other awards include a Distinguished Hospital Award for Patient Safety, presented by HealthGrades, and recognition in Training magazine as one of the nation’s leading organizations in human capital development. In 2002, Lancaster General was recognized as a Magnet hospital. Also, Lancaster General Hospital consistently performs at the top of our national physician database of more than 660 hospitals when looking at overall satisfaction with the hospital and physician satisfaction with nursing care.  [Full Article]

Physician Satisfaction: Fostering a Culture of Teamwork
Avoyelles Hospital, Marksville, Louisiana
In most markets, it is the physician that keeps the hospital inpatient and outpatient services full.  Without a doubt, keeping physicians involved and supportive of your hospital is the right thing to do.  So, what needs to be in place to ensure a culture of teamwork?  We looked closer at Avoyelles Hospital, located in Marksville, Louisiana, who is a high performer in physician satisfaction.  We asked CEO David Mitchel and Cindy Juneau, Quality Manager of Medical Staff, to share Avoyelles' keys to success in achieving high physician satisfaction scores.  [Full Article]

Physician Satisfaction: Achieve a High Response Rate and Take Action Based on Survey Results
Columbus Regional Hospital, Columbus, IN
Columbus Regional Hospital is a 225-bed hospital located in Columbus, Indiana.  Columbus Regional has always performed well on HealthStream Research's Quality Check^® Physician Satisfaction Survey, but for the past three years they have continued to improve and sustain that improvement.  We interviewed Vice President & Chief Medical Officer Tom Sonderman and the Director of Medical Quality Management, Kathy Wallace to find out how Columbus Regional has been able to make and sustain such improvements.  [Full Article]

Thrill Your Physicians:
Transparent Communication, Dedicated Teams, Consistency, Teamwork, and Action Cause Medical Staff Scores to Soar!
Peninsula Regional Medical Center, Salisbury, MD
Peninsula Regional Medical Center has begun a revolutionary approach to improving the overall satisfaction of their physicians by creating consistent operating room product line-specific nursing teams and an environment of total physician involvement in all decisions that affect them.  The results so far?  From 2004 to their most recent medical staff survey, they moved up thirty-seven notches on their national percentile rank for overall medical staff satisfaction, and they're not even done yet!  [Full Article]


How They Did It:  Award Winners for Medical Staff Excellence and Consistency
Our Lady of the Lake & St. Elizabeth Hospital
Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System, Baton Rouge & Gonzales, LA
Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System, a very high performing system client of HealthStream Research, has two facilities which are stellar examples of Medical Staff satisfaction.  Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center is the 2nd place winner of HealthStream Research's 2005 Overall Medical Staff Satisfaction award, and St. Elizabeth Hospital has performed at such a high level for so long that they inspired the creation of a brand new award category, for which they were the clear winner: 2005 Top Performer - Sustained Excellence, stemming from their second year in a row in the 99th percentile for Overall Medical Staff Satisfaction.  [Full Article]


Trust Builds a Revolution:
Communication, Resources, and Unique Services Cause Medical Staff Scores to Soar!
Overlook Hospital, Summit, NJ
Physicians, by definition, are scientists.  They want precision, flexibility, and the right tool for the jobs they do with every patient.  They seek to base their treatment decisions on the patient in front of them - not some one-size-fits-all template designed by someone else far away.  So it comes as no surprise that one of the most frequent outcomes of heavily centralized health-system control is a drop in medical staff satisfaction and engagement.  Part of the Atlantic Health System, Overlook Hospital is a not-for-profit medical facility in Summit, New Jersey.  Overlook Hospital achieved something that many organizations fear:  a cultural revolution.  The results?  Among many other accomplishments, Overlook Hospital's overall physician satisfaction jumped from 3.09 to 3.76! [Full Article] 

Physicians and Employees: Cayuga's Highway to Excellence!
Cayuga Medical Center, Ithaca, NY
It's not enough to connect to your physicians — you need to create an environment where they connect right back, through your employees.  Cayuga Medical Center didn't just talk to their physicians — they listened.  The physicians didn't just sit back and soak up the ideas of administration — they brought their own fresh ideas to the table.  The results, goals, strengths, weakness — everything was transparent throughout the entire organization.  As Cayuga Medical Center learned, once you open up a highway for dialogue, don't be surprised if everybody wants to make the trip. [Full Article]


Nowhere to Go but UP
Union Memorial Hospital, Baltimore, MD
When Harry Rider and his executive team arrived at Union Memorial Hospital in 1999, the hospital was in dire straits.  They were in the lowest percentile in physician satisfaction (actually, the lowest percentile); they were over a million dollars a month in the red; and only a third of their physicians initially responded to the satisfaction surveys.  "We had nowhere to go but up.  When HealthStream Research presented the Physician Satisfaction survey results, it was quite a shock.  We were at 1% nationally, looking up the 99 positions above us.  After learning this, we knew that everything needed to be addressed," said Harry Rider. President of Union Memorial Hospital. [Full Article]

Community Research Success

Reaching Out and Moving Up: Redefining Customer Serivce
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Hamilton, Hamilton, NJ
Customer service in healthcare organizations is critical to the patients and is among the key drivers for every consumer measurement.  Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Hamilton (RWJ Hamilton) has conducted community surveys for many years. As recently as 1998, the hospital had some opportunities for improvement. Today, they have become a model for outstanding patient care and customer service. [Full Article]

St. Rita’s Medical Center Reinvents Brand
St. Rita’s Medical Center, Lima OH
St. Rita’s Medical Center set out to do what some might have said was impossible — reinvent the hospital’s image into a center of big city excellence. Two years after embarking on the challenge, they have taken the old assumptions and smashed them with success. [Full Article]

Tell your Story of Success

As a FREE service to our clients, our on-staff writer will write about the success you’ve had at your organization.  Your success story will be published on our website and in our newsletter so that others may learn from your success. Any success story written about your organization is yours to publish on your website, promote to local newspapers, and distribute to your employees and patients. We do the work and provide you with a great public relations piece at no expense to your organization.

This service is available on a first-come, first-served basis. To take advantage of this opportunity, contact our staff writer, Craig Calvert at researchinfo@healthstream.com.