Retail-inspired audit program increases patient satisfaction

Aug 3 2010

St. Rita's Medical Center in Lima, Ohio has been experiencing 15-30% increases in patient satisfaction a month after nursing units adopted a retail-inspired audit program introduced to the hospital by a retired Macy's executive.  Hired by St. Rita's as the Vice President of Patient Experience, Walt Kinsey is just one example of prominent healthcare organizations hiring executives from the retail and hospitality industries to transform their customer service cultures.  

Perception Strategies, Inc., a leader in healthcare mystery shopping and qualitative research, is doing its part to help make the transition for this new wave of leadership.  Perception Strategies' President, Kevin Billingsley, will be joining Kinsey to present What one can learn from 44 years at Macy's: Changing the hospital's culture one employee at a time on September 14 at the Society for Healthcare Strategy & Market Development Conference in Chicago.

Billingsley and Kinsey have collaborated to generate dramatic increases in patient satisfaction using a "deep dive" process borrowed from Kinsey's long and distinguished career at Lazarus/Macy's.   The two will be sharing their extraordinary success conducting patient experience interviews on the unit/departmental level over the past few years.  "Our deep dives demonstrate management's desire to listen and commit to change by neutralizing the problems and concerns that hinder the patient experience," said Kinsey.

As a longtime consultant at St. Rita's, Perception Strategies joined forces with Kinsey to help meet internal demand for the Patient Experience Deep Dive Program.  "Walt's process fits perfectly with the qualitative aspect of the healthcare mystery shopping we have been doing for St. Rita's for the past ten years," said Billingsley.  "We jumped at the chance to more directly impact the patient experience."

Other clients who utilize Perception Strategies' healthcare mystery shopping and qualitative research services have chosen to place hospitality executives at high levels of the organization.  Gerard van Grinsven, CEO of Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital, has garnered a great deal of attention for creating from scratch a hospital environment that focuses completely on wellness rather than sickness.  Van Grinsven formerly served as vice president and area general manager for The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company.

Cleveland Clinic, another Perception Strategies' client, recently appointed Leland Lewis, Executive Director of Patient Support Services.  Lewis was mostly recently the General Manager of InterContinental The Barclay New York.