TAMC honored for exceeding patient expectations
PRESQUE ISLE — The Aroostook Medical Center recently received national recognition for exceeding patient expectations by Avatar International, a company that assists hospitals with measuring and improving the care they provide. TAMC accepted the award at a special ceremony in Orlando, Fla.
“We are excited about being recognized for exceeding our patients’ expectations,” said Sylvia Getman, TAMC president and chief executive officer. “It’s a reflection of the commitment of so many people in our organization and their desire to keep improving the level of service we provide.”
Photo courtesy of The Aroostook Medical Center
TAMC WAS RECENTLY HONORED for exceeding patient expectations by Avatar International, a company that assists hospitals with measuring and improving the care they provide. The award is based on patients’ responses to surveys they receive after receiving care at A.R. Gould Memorial Hospital, TAMC’s physician offices and Crown Ambulance. Here, a group of TAMC employees are pictured with the award outside of the hospital.
The award is based on patients’ responses to surveys they receive after receiving care at A.R. Gould Memorial Hospital, TAMC’s physician offices and Crown Ambulance. The survey captures patients’ satisfaction with physician and nursing care, patient safety, pain management, communication, cleanliness, and other elements of their care. TAMC earned the award because patients’ rating of the care they received was better than they expected it to be.
“This award recognizes outstanding service provided by our employees working in several departments of the organization,” said Getman. “This award shows that every single interaction our staff has with a patient makes a difference. It’s really a team effort.”
While Getman was delighted with the award, she acknowledged that much work remains to be done for TAMC to consistently provide the highest level of customer service.
“We are proud of the award, but we recognize that we still have a lot of work to do in order to deliver a level of service consistent with the best hospitals in the country,” she said. “We’ve been working hard to understand how we can continue to become even better, including holding focus groups with employees and getting feedback from the community. We’re working together to get to the heart of what’s most important to our patients.”
As a result of this work, TAMC continues to improve the level of service it provides. Changes were recently made, for example, to make sure that the hospital environment is as quiet as possible so patients can get the rest they need.
“We noticed that the nurse call button system on one of our hospital units could be a little bit disruptive, and we set out to fix it, because a quiet environment promotes rest and healing,” Getman said. “We addressed the issue by using technology to improve the way that the nursing desk contacts the nurses. It has greatly reduced the level of sound patients hear from the call system, and the response from our patients has been wonderful.”
While patient satisfaction is often heavily impacted by the sound level, quality of the food, and helpfulness of the staff, Getman noted that being able to offer the services people need — when they need them — is also very important. In order to be the best, TAMC must do all of these things well.
“Our greatest strength is in our ability to offer more to the community, particularly in terms of technology and services,” she added. “But creating positive, lasting impressions begins with providing great customer service. This award shows that we’re doing some really good things, and we look forward to getting even better.”
