Disney advises hospitals and doctors on improving patient experience

[Lost-in-FL]

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/health/os-disney-hospitals-20110715,0,2634091.story

Snow White as nurse and the Magic Kingdom as hospital might sound like a child's wish. But the idea is part of a real-life, new Walt Disney Co. program designed to teach health-care professionals how to make patients as satisfied with a trip to the hospital — or the doctor's office — as they are with a trip to a Disney theme park.

For about $3,500 each, health-care workers can spend three and a half days at the Disney Institute learning how to pay closer attention to the patient experience.

Hospitals "need to mobilize all of the 'nice' that they can muster in all of their employees to ensure that the total experience of the patient satisfies the patients' expectation," said Aaron Liberman, a professor of health services administration at the University of Central Florida.

_______________________________________________________

I hope that experience do not include the +90 minutes plus lines.

[Ruby the Liberal]

1. I went to a one day 'Disney Experience' seminar once

It was really good.

[DJ13]

2. First thing this reminded me of

Mary Poppins

[rustydog]

3. Not a bad idea I guess...my problem is how careless health care

staff are with patient property upon discharge.
Nursing is more than just administering medications the doctor prescribes.

I am astounded after over 30 years in health care how many nurses and techs discharge patients and leave their clothing, cell phone chargers, CD's electronics behind and send them to lost and found without even trying to contact the victim. we throw away a thousand items annually. ridiculous.

If you can't keep track of my clothes while I'm in your care, how in hell can I trust that you are administering medications accurately? I would not be a patient in the hospital I work in.

My belongings are very important to me, they should be important to the people charged with taking care of me.

rand over :)

[Lost-in-FL]

6. The idea is great. I just don't trust "Disney" doing it.

I just see this as an attempt at opening the gates of revenue "for" the sake of their business empire, not about the patient experience. If patients were a concern to Disney, they would have done so loooooong ago, being that FL receives lots of the US retirees. I live too close to Disney to sense the $$$$$$$$$$ in all of this.

[rustydog]

7. Of course Disney is doing this for the money...

My guess is most healthcare organizations have received less than glowing customer service accolades.
When there will so much more competition for shrinking dollars from government programs and smaller insurance payouts, hospitals will have to improve the "customer service" aspect, which begins when the person enters the facility and when they get out of the wheelchair and into their ride home.

Why not cash-in in showing healthcare workers the obviious?

[Lost-in-FL]

8. Again, I agree with you.

However, this "less than glowing" customer service go hand in hand with hospitals being understaffed and healthcare workers having to work in an increasingly "unsafe" environment for both patient and employees due to this shortage. I bet you that this push by Healthcare managers for better results will not come with a push for more staffing. There is plenty of healthcare workers and demand but hospitals are only asking more of the employees with less staffing. Our meetings are always the same. Management crying for number (Implying they want more sick people) and our demands for help with staffing are answered with the "we are on talks for hiring people" but it never occurs.

[Dappleganger]

16. Agree with you, I don't trust the Mouse at all.

[eilen]

10. Maybe we have more important things to concentrate on

Send your stuff home with your family. We are not responsible for your belongings.

[LongTomH]

4. Wanna bet this is for workers serving the 'Concierge Health Plan' patients?

Place your bets ladies and gentlemen, place your bets!:evilgrin:

[Buns_of_Fire]

5. They get Snow White, the rest of us get Nurse Ratched. That's usually the way it works. nt

[Warpy]

9. Yeah, we all know people choose to go to hospitals because they're

also the happiest places on earth, not because they're sick and need help getting well.

Putting MBAs in charge of them have made the work of nurses and allied professionals nearly impossible. Disneyfication will be the end of it, some nurses already reporting being handed laminated cards with speeches they're supposed to recite to patients.

People often ask me if I'd ever consider going back. Under these conditions, I'd rather remove my own gallbladder with a grapefruit spoon first.

[Lost-in-FL]

11. +10000

You are so right about those "MBAs" with no clinical background.

To give one example of what an "MBA" is, think no further than a "Rick Scott". Now imagine thousands of Rick Scott's running hospitals all over the USA. Then think of lower level management and supervisors following Rick Scott's vision. THAT is the current environment of healthcare in the US.

Now hospital management comes straight from business school, not med school or nursing school. Those MBA kinds only look at their statistics from their computer screen and you never see their faces doing rounds around the hospitals. When you see them, they go to specific locations almost always followed by cameras and talking about "their mission" and their "state of the art equipment". Then run away into hiding. Managers seem totaly disconnected from what it means to be in contact with patients and their needs, its all about numbers. If hospitals are successful, it is because of hardworking employees and deeply caring people. Unfortunately, the most common complaint from workers is seen how hospitals seem more like assembly lines than hospitals, and now management is pushing this this Disneyland-like trend that is almost impossible to attain.

[eilen]

12. The wait is a lot longer than that in the ED. nt

[Lost-in-FL]

14. Many times that. nt

[Lost-in-FL]

21. But then thinking about it, you can buy your way to the front of the line.

Just like in Disney! :)

[MountainLaurel]

13. I'd prefer Disney over GE or Toyota

Who are the corporate role models for the health care system where I work.

[Lost-in-FL]

22. They are all the same.

The only difference is that Disney adds to the cult-like mentality with heavy doses of pom-poms and fireworks.

[Dappleganger]

15. Good god, Disney employees have to be nice or they get fired.

And health care workers in Orlando work for shit wages so good in getting them to smile while they get reamed.

[RushIsRot]

17. I have been hospitalized about four times in recent years.

When I was discharged, my nurses loved me. I did not make unreasonable demands. I said "please" and "thank you" and they responded to my courtesy by treating me like a king. I fear that many people have awful hospital experiences because their care givers are reflecting the attitude they have encountered in every interaction with the patient.

Honey attracts more bees than vinegar.

[XanaDUer]

18. I think there's actually a book, "If Disney Ran Your Hospital"

nt.

[Lost-in-FL]

20. Thanks!

Gonna have to check it out. :thumbsup:

Maybe I can find a way to tell "my clients" that they won't be seen without health insurance with a huge Mickey Mouse's grin on my face.

[Maru Kitteh]

19. I may dislike Disney, but this is hardly the worst idea in the world.

"In Orlando, Florida Hospital worked with Disney to improve the patient experience before the opening of its children's pavilion in March. As part of that plan, the hospital introduced new uniforms and simplified name tags, banned cellphones in some patient areas, and instructed staff to greet patients with a smile and kneel down to talk to children at their eye level.

"We've realized that taking care of people means more than just putting the splint or the cast on the broken bone," said Tim Burrill, chief operations officer at Florida Hospital for Children.

Even though patients often arrive at the hospital in fear, paying attention to controllable things like stress can improve how they feel about their hospital visit, Burrill said."

[FLPanhandle]

23. We studied Disney in grad school

How they turn what is basically an experience of long lines, high cost, sweating, and impatient kids and transform it in people's minds to a "magical" time.

It's really quite amazing the simple psychological tactics they use and, yes, they can be applied in other places like hospitals.