‘The One Thing Challenge’

A single gesture makes a big difference to patients and colleagues

It only takes one lottery ticket to win a jackpot, and it only takes one comment or good deed to make a patient’s or colleague’s day. “That’s the idea behind ‘The One Thing Challenge,’ ” says patient satisfaction improvement co-chair Ronald Swinfard, M.D. “If we all practice and remind each other of our ‘one thing,’ we’ll create a more pleasurable experience for patients, visitors and colleagues.”

Because we’re always looking for ways to improve, and because the best ideas come from colleagues, we asked you to help develop a “one thing list.” “More than 700 colleagues attended 32 rally sessions,” says patient satisfaction improvement council member Kim Badillo, R.N. “From these sessions, more than 300 ‘one thing ideas’ were generated.” Some examples: “Greet everyone,”  “Be approachable,” and “Just smile.”

You may have noticed pop-up e-mails containing many of the “one thing ideas.” Not only did colleagues read these messages, they acted on them. “We know that because patient satisfaction scores increased since the e-mails were sent out in June,” Badillo says. The increase allowed us to meet this year’s patient satisfaction goals (see the Shared Success report card in this CheckUp).

Click here for just a few of the “one thing ideas.”

Immediate Rewards
Because you’ve made “The One Thing Challenge” so successful, there’s a new way you’ll be rewarded for doing your one extra-special thing. It’s called “The Five Stars of PRIDE Challenge.” It will immediately reward you for exemplifying one of our PRIDE behaviors: privacy, respect, involvement, dignity and empathy.

Here’s how it works. If you do something great for a patient or colleague, your manager will reward you with a card. By returning the card, or a photocopy of it to the patient representative office at LVH–Cedar Crest either in person or via inter-office mail, you’ll be eligible for one of five monthly drawings worth $50. So, start practicing your “one thing” and good luck!

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