Innovative Tool for Hospitalists Unveiled at Society of Hospital Medicine Annual Conference

DALLAS, May 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Approximately half of all hospitals in the U.S. employ hospitalists, and according to the Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM), the number of hospitalists increased by 10,000 from 2007 to 2010. Hospitalists are pivotal to the overall patient experience, which is why Press Ganey Associates has worked with SHM, hospitalists and administrators to create a comprehensive new tool for measuring, reporting and improving patient satisfaction with this fast-growing medical specialty.

"Hospitalists play an extremely important role in patient care, and the utilization of this specialty is continually on the rise," said Richard B. Siegrist Jr., CEO of Press Ganey. "Historically, no methodology has existed for measuring, benchmarking and improving hospitalist-specific patient satisfaction, and we felt it was essential to start working with SHM. Hospitalists are increasingly being asked to be quality leaders, and as the future role models for improvement, they need to understand how to enhance interactions with patients. That starts with understanding and improving their performance."

The Hospitalist Insights(SM) solution enables hospitals, hospital systems and group practices to:

• Understand patient satisfaction attainment of individual hospitalists.
• Benchmark hospitalists against national hospitalist database ("apples-to-apples") vs. other types of physicians.
• Reward top-performing hospitalists by aligning compensation with individual patient satisfaction performance.
• Track hospitalists' performance over time to assess performance coaching effectiveness.

"Hospitalists can be at a disadvantage because they don't usually know their patients prior to caring for them in the hospital," added Siegrist. "They really need their own measurement tool and improvement resources since they are such a unique, specialized group."

With this new tool, patients are able to identify the hospitalist by both a picture and name – a key element as patients do not have a pre-existing relationship with their hospitalist prior to admission. Additionally, hospitals will receive bi-annual reports and benchmarking data to support their Ongoing Professional Practice Evaluation initiatives – as well as have access to online reports 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Press Ganey Associates, Inc.

Recognized as a leader in performance improvement for 25 years, Press Ganey partners with more than 10,000 health care organizations to create and sustain high performing organizations, and, ultimately, improve the overall health care experience. The company offers a comprehensive portfolio of solutions to help clients operate efficiently, improve quality, increase market share and optimize reimbursement. Press Ganey works with clients from across the continuum of care – hospitals, medical practices, home health agencies and other providers – including 50% of all U.S. hospitals. For more information, visit www.pressganey.com.

SOURCE Press Ganey Associates, Inc.