UCH e-mail service garners national innovation nod
An e-mail service that links patients directly to the University of Colorado
Hospital’s president and chief executive officer has received high
praise from the magazine that ranks the nation’s “most wired” hospitals.
The editors of Hospitals & Health Networks, the journal of the American
Hospital Association, recently recognized University of Colorado Hospital’s
Web-based, patient e-mail project as a finalist in the Innovator Awards category
of its 2005 “Most Wired Hospitals and Health Systems” edition.
University of Colorado Hospital administrators believe the e-mail service
and other technology-based initiatives will improve response time to patients’ concerns,
and increase accountability among all personnel.
The innovation award category is a joint project among Hospitals & Health
Networks, Cisco Systems, IDX Systems Corp., Accenture, and the College of
Healthcare Information Management Executives.
“Simply put, this system has enabled me to find out quickly and first-hand
what is going on in our hospital relative to patients’ perceptions,” said
Joyce Cashman, interim president and chief executive officer of University
of Colorado Hospital. “I feel plugged into the day-to-day issues faced
by our patients, doctors and nurses, and I’ve made lots of new friends.
I can’t over estimate the value of quick, easy and direct communication.”
The hospital’s information technology staff piloted the e-mail project
in 2000 and deployed it across the entire network of clinics by early 2004.
The innovative e-mail service enables patients to send feedback about their
experience directly to the facility’s top administrator, and receive
immediate, personalized responses in return.
Following their first clinic
visit, patients receive an initial standardized e-mail and are asked to respond
to three questions and provide feedback about their experience. The hospital’s
chief executive officer replies to all comments – be they negative
or positive.
Former University of Colorado Hospital President and CEO Dennis Brimhall,
who stepped down from his position earlier this year to dedicate himself
to church ministry, played a leading role in the creation and implementation
of the patient e-mail service. He said the system was “so slick” it
enabled him to spend a mere 20 to 30 minutes a day responding to patient
concerns and praise via e-mail.
“Before, we had no way of knowing the patient’s perceptions unless
they were voiced at the time of service,” Brimhall said. “Now, the
patient is called, the issues are addressed, and many times patients comment
that their next visit was better and they felt that it was so because the
CEO intervened on their behalf.”
Once patient feedback is compiled, the results are published on the hospital’s
Web site for all to see, including current and prospective patients.
“The faculty and staff know they will be held accountable for not only
the initial care, but to fix problems,” Brimhall added. “It is the
ultimate in accountability and transparency.”
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