Prescription for a Happy Face

Health isn’t the only thing that needs to get better in Hospitals. Customer dissatisfaction is more contagious than the Flu!  Think about it. Pre-internet when a customer was dissatisfied he’d maybe tell ten people, but in the current social media world complaints broadcast to thousands… maybe millions if your YouTube hits big.

Patient Satisfaction Overhaul (Finally!)

Did you see that L.A. Times article over the weekend about how federal payments to hospitals are being tied to customer satisfaction? That’s a major topic at the hospital where I volunteer. Everyone’s suddenly scrambling to figure out ways to make sure customer surveys are filled out positively — OR ELSE!

At my hospital they hire more people to act as Liasons between the Patient’s family and the Hospital.  I guess it helps everyone navigate the system, but we could do more. Much more. A great example of Hospital know-WOW comes from Pittsburgh Children’s Hospital.

Caped Cleaners

It’s a bird, It’s a plane…

I mean how cool would it be for anyone entering the hospital to look up and see Super Hero Window Washers? It’s such a wonderful and wacky diversion for kids and their parents — and actually anyone entering (or even walking by) the hospital.

How cool it must be for the Window Washers who never get noticed to suddenly have instant STAR POWER. I’d imagine their family dinner conversations are a little more exciting now that they’re wearing capes.

Letting dogs help Doctors, offering Musical Therapy, giving iPads to Patients and training awesome Volunteers are other ways Hospitals go that extra step to promote positivity and gain customer satisfaction.

In the presence of pain and in the absence of super powers, bringing smiles to the suffering may be the best way of healing.