Hanover Hospital Service Excellence Featured in National Level Publication

William Walb, Hanover Hospital President/CEO, is featured in the May, 2007 issue of the national level publication Health Executive. The article, entitled "Joint Effort," focuses on service excellence initiatives at Hanover Hospital.

In 2005, Hanover Hospital adopted a new service excellence plan that extends to physicians, patients and visitors, educating staff and making them aware that everything
they do from a service aspect impacts the hospital's success.

As part of the plan, the hospital developed a Leadership, Education, and Development (LEAD) program for department directors, to improve their management and leadership
skills, communication, motivation and performance. The "You're a Star" program was also created, providing a means for staff to recognize others for going above and beyond the call of duty. According to Walb, the initiatives have resulted in even more complimentary letters from patients and visitors who specifically identify staff in their words of gratitude.

The hospital's unique new Online Patient Satisfaction Survey was also among the excellence initiatives highlighted in the article. Since it was launched last year, the program, which automatically analyzes performance, archives data and creates reports, has generated over 5,400 responses. Patients also take advantage of the opportunity it offers to recognize individuals for their service.

Other recent service excellence initiatives include a very popular valet/concierge program and development of a rapid response team which evaluates patients to potentially head
off cardiac arrest. A re-formatted employee orientation program was also designed, with a focus on service excellence, mission/vision/core values, strategic goals, teamwork, and
diversity, presented to newly hired employees in an informal, interactive setting. Another new initiative is the hiring of two Patient Relations Coordinators who keep families of
Emergency Department patients informed of their progress, and provide interpreter services for Spanish-speaking patients.

Hanover Hospital's excellence initiatives were also noticed at an international level, having achieved recognition as the first hospital in the nation to be awarded the Program of Distinction, Level I Accreditation, by the International Association for Healthcare Security and Safety (IAHSS).

"We recognize we're a community hospital and always will be a community hospital," said Walb. "Some larger systems get lost when it comes to mission and values....we tie everything together in our service excellence initiative – education, resources, quality, and safety – to make this hospital successful."