Investigate the Culture in a Healthcare Organization
Conduct an observation at a hospital to assess its culture from the perspective of a potential employee, patient, or guest. This activity will provide you with the opportunity to compare satisfaction data reported by patients.
You will also report on the observable culture from the marketing perspective: viewing hospitality, helpfulness, and other ambassadorial behaviors. Building the healthcare organization’s public image through ambassadorial activities is preferred over advertising, as employees are key to demonstrate the benefits of working in an organization where they are valued—thus translating this feeling to their interaction with the public.
This assignment has two parts needed to complete your report; an observation and a reflection paper.
Part 1: Observe
You will visit a hospital facility, ideally one in which you are not known, to determine the degree to which the institution possesses a welcoming culture. If required, check in at the security desk with your photo identification and explain you are a student in a graduate health administration program completing an assignment as a guest. Likely you will be issued an identification badge with your name, title, and photo. Walk through the public areas of the facility and look for signs of hospitality, helpfulness, and other ambassadorial behaviors that are indicative of a welcoming culture. Look for directional signage and ask for directions to public areas such as the gift shop, snack bar, cafeteria, or parking garage. Sit in the lobby and observe as staff interacts with guests and each other.
Consider these questions:
• What type of reception did you encounter at the check-in desk?
• To what level do you observe hospitality and helpfulness from staff?
• Is there camaraderie or apathy observed to one another and guests?
• To market itself, what printed information (e.g., flyers, brochures, etc.) about the organization are displayed for public view and access?
Part 2: Reflect
After your observation, visit the Healthgrades website, which provides the results from the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Health Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). At the Healthgrades website, type in the name of the facility you visited. Due to similar hospital names, ensure you are selecting the correct address/location for your hospital. Once on the hospital’s page, scroll down to the heading Patient Experience to learn what level of satisfaction patients reported the following discharge from this hospital. For example, 66% of patients discharged from Hospital Z would “definitely recommend” Hospital Z as compared to the national average of 70% of patients recommending their hospital. There are at least four patient satisfaction indicators to which you can correlate the findings from your observation—overall recommendation of the hospital; communication by doctors, nurses, and staff; cleanliness; and noise levels.
Prepare a narrative report providing an overview of the hospital you observed:
• Describe the setting of the hospital as urban, suburban, or rural; and summarize the types of services offered at the hospital.
• Describe what you witnessed, compared to your expectations and your findings on the patient experience rated on Healthgrades in the area of communication by doctors, nurses, and staff; cleanliness; and noise levels.
• Provide your reflection on the public image projected from the organization and whether you, as the healthcare executive, see opportunities to improve the observable culture—or whether you observed favorable behaviors you wish to adopt and replicate in your organization.