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How Can Your Healthcare Organization Create an Optimal Surgical Experience? Presentation

April 1st, 2021
April 1st, 2021

Michael Pagnani, MD and April Blankenship, RN

Overcoming challenges regarding communication and engagement in healthcare and especially surgical services can be daunting; however, it is not impossible. Engaging the surgical team strategically is key to the success of great perioperative experiences. Engaged teams are more productive, involved, committed, and accountable, and they contribute to the overall success of the patient experience. The benefits of engagement include a positive culture and lower staff turnover and result in retention of seasoned and skilled staff, enhanced recruitment of new talent. Correspondingly, physicians becomes partners and champions of the surgical process and of an elevated patient experience and organizational brand loyalty. Engagement drives institutional energy, resulting in as much as 60% fewer defects, 16% higher productivity, 37% less absenteeism and 49% fewer accidents.

Managers and Their Reports See Engagement Differently

We have noticed that managers report three times higher levels of engagement than the teams that they lead. We have identified purposeful ways to overcome that statistic and can share ways to better equip leaders to empower their teams while capturing their hearts and minds to continue to look for innovative ways to improve the operative experience. A few of the strategies include making sure that you hire people who are the right fit for the mission of the organization. From onboarding on, it’s essential to check in frequently to identify any early warning signs of disengagement. It also helps to purposefully round on your team members to enhance two-way communication while building relationships and trust.

Based on our experience and national benchmarking, it is well known that on-time starts and turnover times are key to optimal effectiveness and surgical flow thus driving the experience of the patient, the team, and the physician. By identifying engaged stakeholders and then deploying an engaged surgical services efficiency team, organizations can apply a methodology of process mapping to identify how to formulate an action plan for improvement and success. Through team engagement and other efforts, operative efficiencies can be elevated, the patient experience can be enhanced, safety and quality can be improved and physician/community loyalty can be heightened.

Presentation About Improving the Surgical Staff Environment

Please join April Blankenship and Dr. Mike Pagnani on October 27th, 2016 at Becker’s ASC Annual Meeting as they discuss optimizing the surgical experience for patients, families, providers, and staff. This session will address how surgical team engagement leads to improved operating efficiencies, safety, experiences, and quality. If the team struggles with engagement, ownership and communication, errors can happen and efficiencies can be extremely compromised. We know our patients and their loved ones expect excellent care in a safe environment which includes setting clear expectations using concise communication. How can you engage your entire team to have a sense of ownership that drives not only these patient/family expectations but also efficiencies as well to include surgical flow, on time starts, accuracy, and optimal turn-over times?

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