by Tina Gaskell, MA, CPHQ Executive Partner, Performance Improvement Coach
Employees at VA Texas Valley Coastal Bend (VATVCB) care about their patients. Plenty of healthcare organizations say this, of course. But VATVCB really means it. So much so that, through an employee survey VATVCB identified that employees wanted to be able to provide better quality and more efficient access for the veterans they serve.
Working with TruthPoint’s Performance Improvement CoachAdvisors™ they developed a plan, conducted real-time patient feedback and implemented strategies that lead to improved clinical outcomes, improved patient perceptions of the care experience, and exceptional healthcare outcomes.
Led by their coach, a multi-disciplinary team at VATVCB worked together to initiate a number of improvement actions:
The ability for Medical Administration Service clerks to schedule appointments 365 days in advance.- Increased awareness of their MyHealtheVet secure messaging service.
- Improvement of standards and response times for secure messaging and phone calls.
- Allowing providers to provide real-time patient notes allowing veterans to make follow-up appointments before leaving the clinic.
- Telehealth options.
- Weekly clinic briefings.
- An improved triage process.
- Better communication between team members.
This team approach, focused on supporting both the organization and personal mission of VATVCB and staff, proved to be a highly effective initiative for VATVCB. The team successfully implemented several initiatives supported through TruthPoint coaching, data analysis and review.
The results? Real improvements in access to care, veterans’ ability to reach the care team and overall service ratings.
TVCB is one of more than 70 healthcare systems, pediatric hospitals, VA and DOD medical centers that have exceeded their performance improvement and quality goals, improved care and changed culture by combining actionable patient input and CoachAdvisor Services from TruthPoint.
Interested in learning more about how you can put these services to work for your health system, and your patients? Give us a call.