Eastern Maine Medical Center is a 411-bed specialty referral medical center—the only such center serving the northern two thirds of the state of Maine. Its unique status as both primary and referral hospital positions it to offer services one wouldn't expect in a relatively small community. The growth of technology at EMMC over the past two decades has been intense—the operating rooms are now home to a computer assisted neurosurgery Brain Lab; we offer minimally invasive procedures with the precision of two surgical robots; we have developed one of the most sophisticated integrated electronic medical record systems in the nation. The rate of technological development is changing the face of healthcare as we have known it.
The rate of change and the focus on technology has the potential to both destabilize and distract the culture from the values that drive our organization, and so as the new millennium arrived we began searching for a systematic approach to keeping the patient at the forefront of all our work. The mission of patient, family, and community centered and in order to deliver that mission we needed to be sure the structure was in place to keep us patient-focused and stable during change.
In 2001 we were in the 78th percentile in patient satisfaction, and not paying close attention to what patients were telling us about their EMMC experience. Over the proceeding eight years we have made steady and incremental investments of time and resource into measures that address the Studer Group's Nine Principles, creating a balanced approach to high performance culture. We immediately saw results in our patient satisfaction and for the past three years we have placed solidly in the 94th percentile. For six years running we have been recognized by our survey company as a top performer (top tenth percentile)
Employee engagement hit an all time high in the spring of 2008, as the alignment of behaviors, our mission and our results brought satisfying meaning to the work of the employees.
As implied by the Pillar approach our organization is also receiving high marks from physicians, is recognized nationally for quality initiatives and continues to enjoy strong community support. The current year has brought added challenge to all of us, and we are counting on our open culture, employee engagement, and physician and community support to help us pull through the difficult times.
In 2008 and 2009 EMMC has received the following recognition:
-
NCQA Patient-Centered Medical Home designations in primary care offices
-
Davies Award from HIMSS for IT application to enhance patient safety and quality care
-
Primary Stroke Center (Gold Seal of Approval—American Stroke Association)
-
100 Most Wired Hospitals
-
Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence –American Collage of Surgeons
-
Level Two Trauma Center verification
-
Organ Donation Medal of Honor
-
Avatar Overall Best Performer (Six years in a row)
-
Outstanding Achievement Award for CancerCare of Maine—American College of Surgeons, Commission on Cancer