For three and a half years, Box Butte General Hospital (BBGH) Patient Experience Ambassador Dede DeVeny has been the force behind the hospital’s drive to promote a positive patient experience for the people needing its services. The Patient Experience program’s foundation is Custom Learning System’s Service Excellence program the hospital embarked on seven years ago.
“It’s not hard to be kind,” she said. “That’s what we are all supposed to do, whether a smile, a listening ear; offering sympathy or empathy.”
Ms. DeVeny’s world outlook is pretty simple. “We’re all here for such a short time, so we need to make a lasting impression by being kind to people,” she said. “Making a difference in someone’s day is important. We all have an impact on the people we meet, and we need to make that impact a positive one.”
If Ms. DeVeny sees anyone in the halls of the hospital, she’ll stop and see if there is anything she can do for them, from getting a cup of coffee or water to getting something for a child to occupy his or her mind. “Sometimes, I’m asked to listen to a patient’s concerns,” she said. “As a matter of fact, that’s one of my primary duties, making rounds in the Inpatient Care Unit to see patients to see how they’re doing emotionally, or if there are any concerns.”
Ms. DeVeny is part of the onboarding process for new employees every Wednesday in order to make new employees feel welcome. She also is in charge of the Patient Experience Mentors (PEM) program. “As a matter of fact we will be having a workshop for the Mentors shortly, where they will be instructed on presenting their material for the hospital wide workshops on Patient Experience. Each and every employee will have to take that course, and it’s important that they do. We’re all Patient Experience Ambassadors, from the health care providers and nurses to Patient Finance Services and Environmental Services staff.” This year’s theme is Walking Hand in Hand. Your job that you do, be it taking a temperature, providing nutritional meals or any other hospital duty, goes hand in hand with the Patient Experience. Everyone here in this facility is here for the patient.”
And it’s not just for patients, but also for fellow employees. “A positive influence on how we treat each other is important as well,” Ms. DeVeny said. “Obviously our patients are our number one priority, but our employees have to be content and satisfied as well.”
The Patient Experience program will soon be a financial incentive as well for health care facilities across the nation. “We’ve known for a while that Medicare reimbursement will, at some point, take a patient’s experience as expressed through the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey and use that as a tool to determine reimbursement levels,” Ms. DeVeny said. “The Department of Health and Human Services will either reward, or penalize, hospitals and other health services as a way to incentivize us. It’s not quite here yet, but it’s coming.”
Ms. DeVeny even takes her ‘job’ home with her. “I care about not only two legged beings, but those with four legs as well,” she said. She is the founder and director of Providing Animals with Shelter (PAWS), and spearheaded getting the Alliance Animal Shelter remodeled five years ago as well.
The lifelong Alliance resident loves to travel in her spare time. “When I was younger I traveled for 3 months with my family all over the United States and parts of Canada,” she concluded. “I have been on several cruises and most recently spent 10 days in Hawaii. Also, I’m lucky that I get to travel with my job to some amazing conferences. A year ago I traveled to Long Beach California to attend a CLS conference where I also gave a presentation on BBGH’s new Onboarding procedure that I helped devise. I love to go places but I am also content to be at home with my three rescue dogs.”
Box Butte General Hospital is an equal opportunity provider and employer.