Patient Experience delivers $36M in revenue at two hospitals
Putting Patients First
In 2017, Mercy Gilbert and Chandler Regional Medical Centers began implementing elements of a high reliability organization (HRO) to strengthen their performance in the areas of patient safety, patient experience, employee engagement, quality, and revenue. Known collectively as Dignity Health East Valley, the medical centers are two of the best performing hospitals within the larger CommonSpirit Health ecosystem.
“Our Excellence Every Day, Every Way HRO framework is really about focusing on what matters most — our patients and our caregivers,” said East Valley CEO Mark Slyter. “We can help them by creating a culture and environment that gives them the time, tools, and resources they need.”
Two important tools that help East Valley achieve the objectives of their HRO framework since late 2020 have been Vital’s patient experience solutions — Vital Emergency for emergency department (ED) visits and Vital Inpatient for inpatient stays.
“There’s no question about it. This technology and our methods of high reliability have really achieved some amazing results,” Slyter shared in a recent Modern Healthcare webinar.
Patient Experience Results
As an important component of their HRO strategy, Vital’s solutions have helped Dignity Health East Valley achieve:
An 7.5% increase in “likelihood to recommend” for inpatient care and a 4.5% increase for emergency care
An average ED and inpatient service rating of 4.4 stars
A 78% increase in ED Google star ratings at Chandler Regional and 50% increase at Mercy Gilbert
These successes and others are due to the impressive speed with which staff can respond to patient needs. Because all service requests logged through the Vital platform are automatically routed to the appropriate service line (e.g., housekeeping, nursing, nutrition services, etc.), Slyter says there has been a remarkable reduction in response time.
Another contributor to Dignity Health East Valley’s success has been Vital’s Experience Management feature. Rather than asking patients about their experience days or weeks later, staff are able to check in with patients during their stay through real-time surveys. This not only helps with service recovery, but it also enhances the hospitals’ reputation. Here’s how it works:
When a survey rating of 3 stars or lower is received, hospital staff receive an alert and respond immediately, often turning a dissatisfied patient into a loyal customer.
Should a patient indicate they’re receiving 4- or 5-star service, the system invites them to leave a review on Google.
Patients also have the opportunity to recognize individual staff members — a feature Slyter says can dramatically lift staff spirits
“The feedback has been just overwhelmingly positive, not only in the culture but in the technologies that we put in place. That has placed us #1 and #3 in the company in employee engagement.”
Business Performance
Dignity Health East Valley has also seen significant financial growth since 2020, due in part to the Vital platforms’ ability to build patient loyalty and help patients stay in-network. Vital Emergency and Vital Inpatient empower patients with hyper-relevant information and resources so they can take the next step in their healthcare journey.
With just a few taps, patients can access basic educational materials including labs and imaging, receive reminders for and schedule follow-up care, confirm insurance information, and access the hospital’s patient portal.
East Valley’s analysis of financial performance attributed to Vital from late 2020 to October 2023 has shown:
$2.2M more in EBITDA margin
A 18X ROI in downstream appointment payments
A 2% increase in market share in their service areas
An average left-without-being-seen (LWBS) rate of 1.0% at Chandler Regional and 1.1% at MercyGilbert
“We could talk about this from a safety, patient experience, or quality perspective, but because we’re able to capture those patients and make sure they get the care that they need, it’s financially beneficial to us and to health systems that might go down this path.”
Patient Adoption Rates
Slyter is quick to point out that the results attributed to Vital could not have been achieved without the software’s ability to drive patient adoption. Because the HIPAA-compliant software uses text messaging to confirm each patient’s identity as soon as they enter the hospital, patients don’t need to download a mobile app or create a username or password. This has helped East Valley achieve a monthly average ED patient adoption rate of 57% and an inpatient adoption rate of 55%.