Becker's Clinical Quality & Infection Control

28 PATIENT & CAREGIVER EXPERIENCE 3 areas where hospitals can improve patient experience: Leapfrog By Mackenzie Bean M any adult patients may not fully understand their care plans after they are discharged from the hospital, according to The Leapfrog Group's Patient Experience Report released July 8. Leapfrog analyzed 2019-20 data that more than 3,500 hospitals voluntarily provided to CMS via the Consumer Assessment of Health- care Providers and Systems. The organization calculated average "top box scores" — or the percentage of respondents who selected the most positive response for a survey question — across all reporting hospitals. Overall, about 71 percent of patients said they would definitely be willing to recommend the hospital to friends or family. Most patients also gave their hospital the highest rating for communication with physicians (80.2 percent) and nurses (79.7 percent). However, Leapfrog identified three areas where hospitals could improve patient experience: 1. Care transitions. About 87 percent of patients gave their hospital top marks for the quality of discharge information. However, only 52 percent rated their hospital the same for providing information about their care transition once they left the hospital. "Providing clear, understandable discharge information, like symptoms or health prob- lems to keep an eye out for, can reduce the likelihood of a patient being readmitted to the hospital," Leapfrog said in the report. 2. Communication about medicines. Only 61 percent of patients gave their hospital the highest marks for communication about med- icines, including how often staff explained the purpose of a new drug or warned about side effects. Improving this communication could help reduce or prevent medication errors, Leapfrog said. 3. Pediatric care concerns. In pediatric set- tings, just 62 percent of parents or guardians said they felt comfortable reporting concerns to staff. Creating a safe, welcoming environ- ment for patients to speak up can also help prevent or reduce harm from medical errors, the group added. n Physician lives at Tennessee hospital to be available around the clock By Ayla Ellison B ig South Fork Medical Center in Oneida, Tenn., is one of doz- ens of rural hospitals across the country struggling to keep its doors open. The hospital's owner, Rennova Health, said in April that its Tennessee hospitals were operating at a cash deficiency. The West Palm Beach, Fla.-based company said payroll had been late, making it difficult to retain employees. The challenges have left Big South Fork Medical Center with only one physician, Deepak Reddy, DO. He lives at the facility to be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, according to National Geographic. Six rural hospitals in Tennessee have closed since 2019, including two owned by Rennova. The company shut down Jamestown (Tenn.) Regional Medical Center in June 2019 and closed Jellico (Tenn.) Community Hospital in March. n Employee badges to identify vaccination status a hit, Wisconsin health system says By Kelly Gooch A bout 8,000 Marshfield (Wis.) Clinic Health System employees have requested black ID badge reels to indicate they are fully vaccinated, the health system told Becker's Aug. 11. e nine-hospital health system, which has more than 12,000 employees, started offering the black reels in July. Many Marshfield employees are already required to wear white reels. However, the new black reels are voluntary. Employees who have them may meet in person, but must be masked, if all meeting attendees are vaccinated, the health system said. "We all look forward to having the opportunity to interact with co-workers out- side of the virtual world," said health system spokesperson Jeff Starck. "e badge reels are a way for more personal interaction and create a sense of normalcy for many employees during what has been a challenging, mostly virtual work envi- ronment. e reaction has been overwhelmingly positive." Mr. Starck said that some employees may not have not asked for the new reels because they use clips or other devices to display their name badges. Employees who work off-site and don't attend in-person meetings may not have requested them since they haven't needed them, and some employees who are vaccinated simply may not want to identify themselves, he speculated. Marshfield Clinic announced Aug. 4 that it would require employees to become fully vaccinated for COVID-19 by Nov. 15. As of Aug. 11, about 72 percent of employees are vaccinated, though the health system said that number will rise as it receives proof of vaccination from employ- ees who were inoculated outside the health system. n

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