Scottsbluff, NE – “In an effort to get a better response from patients, the hospital has switched to a phone survey instead of the traditional paper survey patients received in the mail,” said Karla Edwards, Director of Service Excellence.

“The paper surveys were long and sometimes confusing,” said Edwards. “Unless they were extremely satisfied or dissatisfied, many patients chose not to complete the survey. Phone surveys have been shown to collect a better representation of all patients rather than those at extremes.”

Phone surveys will also improve the timeliness of receiving patients’ opinions. “Sometimes the information was up to six months old when we received it from the company that previously collected our patient satisfaction data,” said Edwards. “It is very difficult to address issues when they are that old.”

The hospital began phone surveying a sampling of both inpatients and outpatients last week. HealthStream Research is making the calls on the hospital’s behalf and compiling the data.

“We explored several options and believe that this process with HealthStreams will provide the most accurate and timely data, and will also be very user friendly for our patients,” said Edwards.

Not every patient will receive a phone call, but those who do will have the opportunity to give feedback about their experience at Regional West as well as about specific staff.

In addition to implementing telephone surveys, all hospital departments have established goals to improve patient satisfaction, and employees will participate in customer service training developed specifically for Regional West.

“We are making every effort to ensure that each and every patient receives excellent customer service as well as excellent care,” said Edwards.

Regional West Health Services, with over 1,800 employees, provides comprehensive and innovative health care services for the people and communities of western Nebraska and the neighboring states of Colorado, South Dakota and Wyoming. With over 110 active physicians, 95 percent of whom are board certified or board eligible, plus an additional 25 consulting specialists, Regional West offers care that spans more than 30 medical specialties. Regional West Medical Center, a subsidiary of Regional West Health Services, is accredited by The Joint Commission and is one of three Level II Trauma Centers in Nebraska.