Dear Colleagues:

Our second quarter 2004 Press, Ganey Inpatient Satisfaction Survey Program® scores demonstrated that patients are positively responding to our quality improvement efforts. Patient satisfaction scores were the highest since we began participating in this nation-wide comparative evaluation process three years ago. The hospital was ranked at the 89th percentile for similar-sized teaching hospitals in the quality of patient experiences. And, in the specific “overall satisfaction” section, BWH was rated at the 98th percentile.

The upward trend of the hospital’s scores over the past 14 quarters of surveys clearly demonstrates that quality initiatives do make a difference. By involving teams throughout the hospital, Service Excellence is uncovering a wealth of suggestions from knowledgeable staff for improving the BWH patient experience.

The 2004 Service Excellence initiatives in Team Communication and Patient Flow and Referring Physician Communication are in full swing. Clearly, there is a great willingness by our staff to listen to our patients in an effort to determine how we can improve their interaction with BWH.

I commend all who have been involved with quality efforts to date and ask for your support and patience as we continue to test new approaches towards the goal of continuous quality improvement throughout the institution.

Sincerely,

Andy Whittemore, MD
Chief Medical Officer