Implementation of a Standard Process for Communicating Delays

Patient satisfaction is an essential part of healthcare, which is measured by patient surveys (U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2019). Patient satisfaction surveysallow consumers to investigate their healthcare options (U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2019). Surveys improve transparency and accountability for healthcare organizations, which improves the overall healthcare quality and accountability (U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2019). The Cardiovascular Procedural and Recovery Unit (CPRU) at Intermountain Medical Center in Utah patient satisfaction scores show room for improvement when it comes to informing patients about delays (Press Ganey, 2019). Patient surveys are conducted by Press Ganey (2019) and reveal a six-month average top box score of 73.02% with the criteria of "informed about delays during visit" from July 2019 to December 2019. The top box score is the percentage of patients indicated they were "always" informed about delays during visit. Benchmarking data exposed a six-month national ranking of 35 (Press Ganey, 2019). CPRU needs a standard process about communicating delays during visits, as evidenced b y poor patient survey scores. "Informed about delays during visit" is consistently low, and places the unit below many other facilities in and outside of Utah (Press Ganey, 2019). The purpose of this quality improvement project is to implement a standard process for communicating delays to patients in the CPRU. Patients in surgical areas arrive early before their procedure to allow time for healthcare workers to perform assessments and laboratory testing to ensure the patient's health status is safe for the surgery (Freeman & Denham, 2008). Patients may experience delays in start times when procedures take longer than expected and in the event of patient emergencies (Freeman & Denham, 2008). Patient satisfaction suffers when patients are not informed about delays. Without updates, patients can feel uncared for and often perceive that they had insufficient attention, along with feelings of abandonment, and psychological stress (Gilmartin & Wright, 2008; Thompson et al., 1996).