Employee News

It’s a 24/7, adrenaline-fueled work place. The hospital emergency room is the one place where doctors and nurses can’t possibly predict what will come through the door next.

It could be a simple ear infection or a broken bone. Or, it could be a life or death crisis, like the day a young boy was mauled by a dog and brought to Southwest General Hospital’s ER in full cardiac arrest.

The ER team rushed to resuscitate the boy and save his life.

“It was an amazing example of the ER doing exactly what the ER is created to do,” said Tedd Adair, Emergency Department director at Southwest General in San Antonio. “That was a case where the boy wasn’t alive when he came into our emergency room, but our staff had the training and skills to save his life.”

Emergency Response
In a time when emergency rooms across the nation are overcrowded and struggling to keep pace with a 20 percent rise in emergency visits over the past decade, IASIS Healthcare is investing tens of millions of dollars in its ERs to care for more patients.

One such project is underway now at St. Luke’s Medical Center in Phoenix. It’s a $6 million expansion.

“Ambulances have driven past St. Luke’s because we didn’t have room for more patients, but the EMS drivers have told us, if we build a bigger ER, they’ll bring patients to us. They want to come here, and we want them here, so we’re basically doubling the size of our ER,” said Dolores Horvath, the hospital’s CEO.

“We’re spending the money. We’ve renovated, expanded, and invested in new technology for most of our hospital emergency rooms because we must keep up with the demands of people who need our services,” said Brian Johnson, IASIS director of emergency services. “People depend on us when they have a serious health crisis, and many people are turning to the ER for more routine medical care.”

Top Performing ERs

These hospitals are company leaders for the first half of 2004:

•	Pioneer Valley Hospital has had the most visits, with 18,328.
•	Palms of Pasadena had the most visits from patients over 65 years of age.
•	Memorial Hospital of Tampa had the highest admission rate, at 27.6 percent.
•	Jordan Valley Medical Center had the lowest number of patients who left without being seen, at less than 1 percent.
•	Odessa Regional Medical Center had the shortest average length of stay, at 1 hour and 48 minutes.

Data compiled by EDCare Management, Inc. through 7/12/2004

Many IASIS emergency rooms have set up fast tracks for patients with minor illnesses and injuries.

“The fast-track works. It’s a separate area where we can get patients in and out quickly. It’s good customer service when patients don’t spend hours sitting in a waiting room. It also keeps the more critical emergencies in another area, where we can provide the higher level of care those patients need,” said Brian Christensen, a registered nurse in a brand new ER just completed in Utah’s Pioneer Valley Hospital.

The Front Door

The ER has been called the hospital’s new front door and for good reason. About 43% of the patients admitted to IASIS hospitals come in through the ER.

“That’s why we are constantly working to improve our facilities and our processes,” said Johnson. “First, because it is our mission to provide exceptional emergency care, and second, because the emergency room is an important pathway to the beds in our hospitals.”

ER improvements attract patients and employees.

“We’ve had nurses from other hospitals come in to apply for jobs at Southwest General,” said Adair. “They’ve seen our cranes and construction site and they’re impressed with what we’re doing. They want to work in an emergency room that is fresh and state-of-the-art. Even more important, our own employees appreciate the positive impact these renovations can have on the work experience.”

Ultimately, it is the patients who benefit. More beds, shorter wait times, and the addition of excellent medical technology can’t help but improve the quality of care IASIS hospitals are providing.

“It’s incredible working here now,” said Christensen. “Every day you can come in feeling confident about what you can accomplish. At the end of the day, you go home, knowing you’ve helped people, maybe you’ve even helped save someone’s life. That’s what the emergency room is all about.”

ER Satisfaction Scores

•	Mid-Jefferson Hospital has the best overall score, with a 3.47 on a scale of 1-4.
•	99% of patients say they are satisfied with the care and concern shown by nurses at Memorial Hospital of Tampa.
•	98% of patients say they are satisfied with the teamwork and coordination at St. Luke’s Medical Center.
•	98% of patients say they are satisfied with the outcome of their visit at Odessa Regional Medical Center.
•	97% of patients would recommend Salt Lake Regional Medical Center.

Patient satisfaction data collected and compiled by Data Management
& Research, Inc. for 1st quarter 2004

What Would You
Do with 40 Million
Dollars?
IASIS Builds ERs
IASIS has spent or has committed to spending over $40 million for improvements to its Emergency Rooms. Some highlights of those projects include:

•	Adding fast-track areas
•	Increasing the number of beds
•	Building larger, more comfortable waiting areas and special waiting areas for children
•	Increasing square footage
•	Installing state-of-the-art equipment
•	Constructing canopied entrances
•	Adding patient-friendly amenities, like telephones and televisions in treatment rooms

ER Upgrades
Two-thirds of IASIS hospitals have completed, started or planned ER improvements.

•	Davis Hospital & Medical Center
•	Jordan Valley Medical Center
•	Memorial Hospital
•	Mid-Jefferson Hospital (becoming The Medical Center of Southeast Texas)
•	Odessa Regional Medical Center
•	Palms of Pasadena Hospital
•	Park Place Medical Center (becoming The Medical Center of Southeast Texas)
•	Pioneer Valley Hospital
•	St. Luke’s Medical Center
•	Southwest General Hospital
•	Town & Country Hospital

Sincerity Counts

Caring communication goes a long
way toward pleasing patients

Maybe it was your mother, maybe a teacher, but somewhere along the way, someone probably told you: say what you mean and mean what you say.

That advice came originally from General George S. Patton, and it is good advice for people in healthcare.

Our patients are often frightened or in pain, and even though we may think we are communicating well, there are some things we can say to help our patients even more.

Here are some things you can say, when caring for patients, that will make them feel better:

Hello, my name is…
Everyone who comes in contact with a patient should introduce himself with his name and position. For example, if Bill Smith from radiology is picking up a patient for an X-ray, Bill should say, “Hi, I’m Bill, I’m from the radiology department, and I’ll be taking you to get your
X-ray today.”

I’m closing this curtain for your privacy.
A lot of healthcare workers might think it is obvious that the curtain is closed for a patient’s privacy, but a frightened patient, especially one who has never been in a hospital before, might not understand what is going to happen when the curtain closes. In a case like that, you might say, “I’m closing this curtain for your privacy and so I can help you get into your gown.”

We want you to be very satisfied with your experience here. Please let me know if you have any concerns or problems.
By letting patients know that we want to hear about their problems and take care of those concerns, we often hear if something is wrong when it is still a small issue, well before it becomes a major problem.

Is there anything more I can do for you before I leave?
This is a simple question that every employee who enters a patient’s room can ask. It communicates to our patients that we all want to be helpful. It also can make the patient care process more efficient, by taking care of patient needs proactively and immediately, cutting down on the number of times a patient uses the call light.

Of course, these helpful phrases will mean little to a patient if they sound phony. You must also mean what you say, because patients will quickly detect insincerity, but they always appreciate sincere compassion and genuine caring.

Quotes on Communication

They may forget what you said, but they will never forget
how you made them feel.
-Carl W. Buechner

Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.
-Rudyard Kipling

The difference between the right word and the almost right
word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.
-Mark Twain