GVMH Emergency Department Customer Service

Improving customer satisfaction scores in the Golden Valley Memorial Healthcare Emergency Department is the main focus of department performance improvement efforts.  To accomplish patient satisfaction goals, GVMH has several areas they are currently working on in the Emergency Department (ED).  To improve communication with the patients in the ED, staff members are trying to make frequent rounds to meet patient needs and keep them up to date regarding the status of their care.  The ED is also working on having a designated triage staff member during peak hours, allowing more focus on keeping patients informed of the wait time, explaining why there is a delay and having someone available to reassess patient needs while they wait to see the physician.  The transition of staff roles and the evaluation of all processes is ongoing to improve the flow of care for the patient.

Wait times in Emergency Departments is a major source of discontent nationwide.  A sampling of 160 charts from GVMH’s ED department in November showed an average of a twenty minute wait from the time the patient arrived to the time the patient was placed in an ED bed.  The average time from arrival to see a physician was 58 minutes.  GVMH’s average total time from arrival to discharge was 2 hours and 23 minutes.  For comparison, the nationwide average for total wait time of Emergency Departments measured by Press Ganey for 2008 was 4 hours.  Even though we are better than the national average, we are still trying to improve our own wait times as we know this is important to our patients.  When possible, we are placing patients into rooms upon arrival for both triage and care.  While they still have the same process to go through, patients are more comfortable.

Throughout all our efforts to make changes and improvements, one thing is constant in the GVMH ED – that is the staff.  They are a highly skilled and dedicated crew who work hard to cover the needs of the department as well as do what it takes to care of our GVMH patients. Performance Improvement is the name of the game right now and they are focused on their efforts. For more information, feel free to contact Emergency Department Director Vicki Nicoletti at 660-890-7182.