Inside Duke Medicine

DASC awarded the 2009 Duke Blue Ribbon Teamwork Award

Photo credit: Duke Human Resources Davis Ambulatory Surgical Center’s Customer Service Committee consists of members representing all departments within DASC. Pictured: front row, left to right: Tabetha Likness, STIII, Kern Michal, CRNA, Cordelia Edwards, RN, Operating Room, Committee Chair, Hope Mangum, RN, DASC Director, and Shelley Harmon, RN, Perioperative Nurse Manager. Second row, Left to right: William Fulkerson, MD, Deidre Hester-Jackson, Business Office, Priscilla Coleman, RN, Compliance Coordinator, Sandy Powell, RN, Operating Room, Gloria Simmons, Business Office, Duke President Richard Brodhead and Pam O'Shea, RN, Post Anesthesia Care. Not pictured: Terry Mason, RN, Operating Room.

The Davis Ambulatory Surgical Center (DASC) Customer Service Committee CSC was one of two teams at Duke to receive the 2009 Duke Blue Ribbon Teamwork Award.

The award recognizes groups or teams of staff within the university and health system who foster cooperation, collaboration and open communication. Eligible teams are comprised of staff and/or faculty members who have collaborated and worked together on a project or significant effort that advances departmental goals and/or the university mission.

The DASC team defined their goal as “to develop action plans to meet patient needs and to improve the satisfaction of care” and “to provide excellent customer service to our community by continually monitoring patient responses to the care they received.”

In addition to their monthly meetings to review all Press Ganey Scores, the team developed two creative ways to improve their scores and to bring comfort to each patient. The first plan was to create a Welcome Packet, given to each patient at admission that includes information to help the patient and their families feel comforted about their visit to DASC. The packet includes a letter from the director as well as a card containing contact information for the director, managers, recovery room nurses, the billing office and the main number. In addition it includes a copy of the DASC mission/vision/values/goals statement and a card for patients to take home, which includes signatures of the employees that cared for them during their visit, from admission to discharge.

The second plan created was the “Strive for Five” Campaign, which includes “Strive for Five” buttons that are worn by all staff. The buttons direct attention to DASC’s customer service goals and gives them a chance to explain these goals to patients and visitors. These strategies helped the team increase their patient satisfaction scores from 93.7 (84th percentile) in fiscal year 2008 to 94.5 (97th percentile) in fiscal year 2009. They also scored in the 99th percentile for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2009 and first quarter of fiscal year 2010.

The DASC vision is: Striving to be the leading provider of ambulatory services in the community and exhibiting excellent customer services as demonstrated by teamwork and patient centered care. “The entire staff at DASC works together as a team in order to fulfill our vision,” says Hope Mangum, RN, director of DASC.

Members of the winning team received a plaque and their choice of a team event not to exceed $1,000. Awards were presented by President Brodhead and Chancellor Dzau at a luncheon in November.