Ashley County Medical Center has made tremendous strides in the past four years since partnering with Studer Group. Although Ashley County Medical center is still in its infancy with Studer we have seen vast improvements. Being a small Rural Critical Access Hospital has forced our organization to take a much slower but appropriate speed in implementing Studer tactics. From the minute anyone enters our facility, they are treated exceptionally well and recognized as a valued patron of our hospital.
Ashley County Medical Center is a non-profit critical access hospital located in Southeast Arkansas in Crossett. We have been caring for patients since the Crossett Lumber Company built the first hospital in 1908. In 1998 doors opened to a new facility and it was one of the finest and best equipped hospitals for an area this size anywhere in the United States. This legacy continues today. The hospital is licensed for 33 beds with six beds being located in the ICU/CCU unit where eICU is available for a higher level of care and collaboration with Baptist Health. The maternal/child unit has three labor and delivery rooms with three postpartum beds allowing for rooming in of infant and mother. Our medical surgical unit has sixteen beds, allowing for care of all ages, and includes sleep studies and swing bed services. The Generations Unit has an additional eight geriatric psychiatric beds.
Ashley County Medical Center has a qualified team that provides healthcare to our community through multiple clinic services. Services offered include family practice, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecological, general surgery, and wound care. Ashley Specialty Clinic also offers care in cardiology, podiatry, audiology, orthopedics, oncology and hematology.
ACMC also operates a Family Home Health agency which assists with transition of care and preventing readmissions. For the past two years, our agency was awarded the Patient Satisfaction Award of Distinction by Fazzi Associates for demonstrating superior performance in patient satisfaction.
In order to keep up with the constant changes in technology, our radiology department at Ashley County Medical Center is equipped with state of the art equipment that offers excellent digital imaging and low dose radiation exposures for our patients.
Our hospital was honored to receive the 2014 Excellence in Patient Care Award for Increased Employee Engagement from Studer Group. Everyone has worked diligently to teach and incorporate the Studer methods in every aspect of patient care and employee interaction. Everyone realized this change would take time and it has been a gradual but consistent growth in our hospital and clinics. The Studer interview process we use to hire team members has worked well. Hiring for will and teaching the skill has really opened our eyes to getting the right people in the right places.
Not being able to have a large population to draw from, we also “grow our own.” Studer has taught ACMC that you can recognize traits in those that are in a vocational process and lead them into a higher positon as they develop further.
The nursing department utilizes Studer methodologies such as hourly rounding, pain management and monthly meetings. These have helped with patient and employee engagement. The patient experience was enhanced when we customized a new nurse call system to help with hourly rounding. This has made a significant improvement even though the nurses had to acclimate to the reminders initially. Utilizing the call system to remove overhead paging to promote a quieter environment and recognizing the patient’s family as part of the patient experience are two changes that increased patient satisfaction.
Our 2015 employee survey response rate went through the roof with an overall total of 99.6% which is 236 out of 237 employees. The statistics from this survey resulted in a 19% increase from 2012-2015 where current employees would recommend ACMC to others as a great place to work. Drawing from the Studer group teachings and recommendations, ACMC has increased expectations of our employees and catered to the increased expectations of patients. Leadership development through Studer has taught the management team at ACMC there is a level of commitment to growth and leadership that all managers must possess. HCAHPS and the survey processes are often drilled to where the outcome is only a number or a metric. It has been a mission of the hospital leadership team to explain that HCAHPS measures and quality care are what people deserve and should expect from a positive experience. It is not just a survey, it is a measure of how well we are doing what is expected of us. This reminds us that we are a business, but caring for people is our business. Remembering why we are here is vital to our success. Thank you notes, post stay phone calls, and involvement in the community are sincere efforts to show that we truly care about what we do on a daily basis.
ACMC has been recognized for numerous accomplishments in recent years including:
- 2014 Excellence in Patient Care Award for Increased Employee Engagement from Studer Group
- 2014 American Hospital Association-Leadership in advancing the health of its community
- Arkansas Stroke Registry certificate of recognition for outstanding completion of the antithrombotic performance measure in July 2013-June 2014 program year.
- October 2014 Arkansas Hospital Association Workers Compensation Award of Excellence for outstanding performance and exceptional commitment to safety.
- May 2015 Arkansas SAVES MVP Site Champion Award showing exemplary contribution through the use of modern technology and best practices for standards of stroke care in their community. Two out of 46 sites received this award.
- 2014 and 2015 Patient Satisfaction Award of Distinction by Fazzi Associates for Ashley County Medical Center Family Home Health