Patient Satisfaction Continues to be a Concern at Stroger Hospital

CCHHS Board Meeting - January 29, 2016

Topics Discussed:
Patient Satisfaction at Stroger Hospital:  After one year of data keeping there has been no improvement as indicated in the latest metrics.  Chief Quality Officer Dr. Krishna Das attributed the problem to perceived wait times and cleanliness as key issues. Dr. Das and CEO Dr. Jay Shannon stressed the importance of educating managers to understand the critical link between service quality and patient retention.

Emergency Room Visits: CountyCare 2015 data reveal only a minimal decline in Emergency Room visits from the same period in 2014. County Care was intended to provide a "medical home" for patients to receive care so as to decrease the need for Emergency Room care. Reasons for the minimal decline identified in board discussion included:

1. Complexity of patient problems that require multiple specialists. 
2. Wait times in the ER can be shorter to get speciality care than having to wait to make an appointment at a speciality clinic.
3. Patients are used to getting their care in the ER and patients are reluctant to change their way of accessing care.

Contracts Approved:

• A sole source contract to Community Health Solutions for $4,982,040 to provide contracted staff, including nurses.  Public speakers including CCHHS staff nurses spoke strongly against the contract, citing CCHHS oversight challenges of nonstaff workers and promising strong union opposition.  Deputy CEO Doug Elwell said the contracted positions will come in house within the year. 
• Approval of contract for $1,920,011,725.00, as a pass-through to Valence Health, OptumRx, DentaQuest, and First Transit allowing them to pay service claim reimbursements to CountyCare service providers.

Items To Watch For: 

• Schematic designs for the central campus redevelopment are due to be complete by the end of March.
• A 3-year CCHHS strategic plan is due to be unveiled by June or July, with significant board input.

Observation:
​CCHHS has a professional, effective board of directors. The 11 board members have carefully developed metrics to measure quality and patient safety, human resources, managed care, and finances; managers now provide these data on a monthly basis.  The board will begin benchmarking their data against Kaiser and other major national health care providers. Check out the latest metrics presented to the board.

Observer: Linda Christianson   Meeting Length: 3 hours