Poor communication and incomplete documentation can create a negative
experience for a patient and directly impact whether a patient or a
patient’s family seeks a plaintiff’s attorney. While data reveals that
service lapses and communication failures cause an increase in both
the frequency and severity of claims, there is often more at risk than
just potential litigation. Having a professional liability claim can
lead to licensing implications, public relations problems,
accreditation issues and both short and long term financial risk.
With the appropriate motivation, the right process and the necessary
tools, you can reduce your liability exposure.Limit Liability Exposure
Stevens & Lee can provide you with a customized risk engineering
program that will assist you in moving toward a positive culture to
reduce risk and become a “five-star” practice, a practice that
maintains a culture of patient satisfaction, service excellence and
employee satisfaction. Our Five-Star Service Excellence Program is
designed to reduce your liability exposure through a combination of
education, training, communication and documentation services.
This program incorporates elements of traditional risk management,
including assessments to identify vulnerabilities within your
organization, and combines those with a focus on creating a
service-oriented environment. A positive culture leads to a reduction
in the service lapses and communication failures that generate claims.
Stevens & Lee’s Five-Star Service Excellence Program can be customized
to address the unique elements of your practice or your organization
by focusing on your specific liability exposure.
Why is Attaining a Five-Star Practice So
Important?
The Five-Star Service Excellence Program will reduce both the
frequency and severity of claims. In addition, it will increase your
market share, energize your employees, and increase their satisfaction
and your retention rate. This will make a big difference in a
patient’s health care experience. How your employees interact with
your patients affects your patients’ views of you and your overall
practice. Creating that positive atmosphere is vitally important as
patients are most likely to tell others about their opinions of your
practice within a few days after an office visit.
Reduce Your Risk
You and your staff will learn:
- Interpersonal skills that convey respect and caring
- Communication skills for diffusing the angry patient, handling
complaints and disclosing complications and even errors
- How to help patients develop reasonable expectations
- Collaboration techniques that help patients be accountable
Enhance Your Profitability
Your organization/practice will benefit by:
- Achieving a “preferred provider” reputation in the community
- Becoming an employer of choice
- Increasing clinician and support staff morale and retention
- Implementing patient-focused procedures that also conserve
resources
Improve Recruitment and Motivate Your Employees
In addition to teaching you how to change your culture to reduce
liability exposure, Stevens & Lee can show you how to use the
Five-Star Service Excellence Program as a valuable recruiting tool to
attract high-caliber health care professionals to your organization.
We can also show you how to use the program during employee and
patient evaluations and to motivate employees. Your Five-Star effort
will be a major factor in creating and maintaining satisfied
employees.
Customizing the Five-Star Program to Meet Your Needs
Whether your organization is a hospital, health system, retirement
community, ambulatory care center or physician practice, the Five-Star
Service Excellence Program is customized to suit your needs and
includes four key elements crucial to success:
Culture Analysis
Stevens & Lee will conduct an analysis of your organization to
evaluate the existing factors that can lead to claims. Knowing the
culture surrounding your organization’s risk management performance is
key to planning for improvement.
Education and Training
True service excellence needs to be embraced at all levels of the
organization. This can only be accomplished through training and
educational programs targeted to your specific needs to improve
patient service excellence. Stevens & Lee offers a full complement of
risk management educational programs.
Service Excellence Tools
Depending on your needs, Stevens & Lee can provide you with the
appropriate forms and documentation procedures necessary to create and
maintain an environment of service excellence. These forms will allow
your organization to better involve patients in their own care.
Event Management
Stevens & Lee can provide your organization with an event management
support program and workshop to provide sound risk management advice
on how to handle events when they occur, minimize the potential for
lawsuits and, most importantly, learn from the events to prevent such
incidents from recurring.
Effective Implementation, Powerful Results
Implementing the Five-Star Service Excellence Program begins with a
solid commitment from senior management and involves everyone in the
organization. Each clinician and professional staff and support staff
member will learn to contribute to quality health care service in a
manner that is safe, efficient and competent and provides a friendly,
warm and respectful experience for the patient. For the program to be
truly successful, every member of the organization must be involved.
For more information on Stevens & Lee’s Five Star Service Program,
please contact James W. Saxton, Esq. at 717-399-6639 or
jws@stevenslee.com.
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The Five-Star Service Culture