A new case study from the Labor Management Project (LMP) research team details recent improvements made by Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center, as a result of a patient-centered care initiative completed with the help of the LMP. The report is part of a series of LMP case studies titled The Power of Partnership.
Bronx-Lebanon took part in the LMP’s Patient-Centered Care (PCC) program, which promotes patient satisfaction through interdisciplinary training and performance improvement. After the LMP provided comprehensive PCC training, Bronx-Lebanon’s union and management sponsors chose a medical-surgical and telemetry unit to implement its performance improvement initiative. The interdisciplinary team that led the initiative aimed to improve lower than desired staff responsiveness scores by increasing staff responsiveness to call bells and improving communication, teamwork, and work processes.
After great success on the initial unit, management and labor initiated a strategy to spread and sustain the program, with support from the LMP. The LMP provided a three-day train-the-trainer program so that Bronx-Lebanon staff, both union and management, could provide the PCC training to their peers. The LMP also provided a performance improvement coaching program that prepared staff to facilitate performance improvement initiatives. The staff then introduced the program on three other floors in the hospital, ultimately achieving the following results:
- Improved interdisciplinary communication and staff education.
- Improved communication with patients by rounding hourly with the 4 Ps (assistance with pain, potty, position and access to possessions).
- Improved work processes and solicited suggestions for improvements.
- Improved HCAHPS scores on each floor, suggesting that patient satisfaction increased as a result of these efforts.
- Reduced call bells as follows on each of the participating floors, indicating that more patients’ needs were being addressed before they had to ring their bells, as follows:
- the 9th floor team reported a 55 percent decrease in call bells;
- the 10th floor team reported a 43 percent decrease;
- the 15th floor team reported an 85 percent decrease; and
- the 16th floor team reported a 47 percent decrease.
A great model of collaborative leadership, the remarkably successful union-management partnership was a joint venture between hospital administration and three distinct unions: 1199SEIU, the Committee of Interns and Residents, and the New York State Nurses Association. In the coming years, with the LMP’s support, Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center’s union and management leadership will work to incorporate patient-centered care as a permanent part of the hospital’s culture.