Elaina Sendro - Administrative Resident at UPMC

It's the start of my 11th week here at UPMC. I am working directly with the Director of Operations for the Pediatric Otolaryngology department at Children's Hospital. Overall, I've been her go-to person in assisting with any and all projects on which she is currently working.

The Department of Otolaryngology is the top rated department at UPMC and ranks second in the nation, so maintaining quality is of highest priority. Much of what was done to improve quality on the adult side is now being implemented on the pediatric side. A lot of my work this summer is focused on the pediatric quality improvement initiative.

Here are two of my ongoing projects:

Press Ganey
The department closely monitors its Press Ganey scores, which track patient satisfaction. Patients respond to each question on a 1-5 scale that is then converted into a percentage score. Various trends in the data can be analyzed once filtered by the date, survey question, physician, etc. I pull updated Press Ganey data on a regular basis in order to assess our past and current standings while setting goals for future target scores. From there, we can determine where to focus our improvement efforts. Current areas being addressed include patient access to a prompt appointment, wait times before seeing the physician, and the child-friendliness of the exam rooms.

Patient and Family Centered Care (PFCC)
Much of our improvement strategy has stemmed from the patient and family perception. We may think our operations run smoothly on the back end and we understand the reasons why particular areas are suboptimal, but the patient has none of this information. By examining our processes from the view of the patient, we can understand where any frustration or disappointment comes from. Out of this PFCC project, we have developed themed activity sheets for children in each exam room, exam room paper printed with various games, and a display board in the waiting area that notifies patients if a physician is running behind. We hope to measure our improvements through our Press Ganey scores.

Fortunately I’ve been kept busy this summer with a wide array of projects. It has given me great insight into what goes on “behind the scenes” of a hospital outpatient setting.