Project Name: Patient and Family Information Dissemination: Informed and involved regarding Surgical Wait Times 


Time Frame: September 2007 – December 2008 


Project Description: To ensure that patient’s and their families are consistently informed about the time frames related to their procedure 

Project Team: The Patient and Family Information Dissemination: Informed and involved regarding Surgical Wait Times team was comprised of staff from the Ambulatory Care Unit, Operating Room, Post Anesthesia Care Unit and the Surgical Care Unit and was supported by a member of the Quality Improvement Team and the Patient Relations Coordinator. 

Project Goals and Objectives: 
• The patient and family will be kept informed throughout the peri-operative process 
•  To increase the information provided to patients and their families 
•  Increase patient and family satisfaction about being informed and involved 
•  Ensure that patients and families are consistently updated throughout the process 
•  Ensure effective communication among departments involved

Evaluation Process:
Following Rutland Regional Medical Center’s model for improvement, the Team determined that if we are successful in communicating the plan for the day during established intervals, utilizing a standardized approach, patients and families will feel well informed. As a direct result a patient information brochure was developed.
A discussion of the evaluation process. For a period of one week the families and patients were surveyed to determine if the information brochure met their needs; the overall findings were that 91% felt that it did. Ongoing monitoring of the specific questions around wait time and information day of surgery is being monitored via Press Ganey surveys 

Project Results:
Patient/Family found itinerary helpful 91%
Information given to patient/family 
Press Ganey mean increased from 89.3 to 99% 
Press Ganey percentile increased from 1 to 99%

Information about delays 
Press Ganey mean increased from 79.2 to 84.6% 
Press Ganey percentile increased from 17 to 59%