Solution oriented group advises hospital

The path to excellence is paved with honest feedback. This is the philosophy on which North Big Horn Hospital’s Patient Family Advisory Council (PFAC) is based. The council is made up of community members, with some employees lending their input regarding how the hospital district can improve its practices to be most beneficial for its patients.

“We like to keep most of the council made up of community members, because those are the voices we really need to hear from,” said Kathy Walker, NBHH Director Corporate Compliance, Patient Relations and PFAC facilitator. “The purpose of the advisory council is to lend family and patient voices to any areas that need improvement. That can be any areas of care including access, communication and processes. It just makes it easier for our patients and their families to navigate the health care system if we have their perspective, especially if we’re anticipating a change or improvement.”

In the four years PFAC has been in existence, its members have offered their input on how to improve forms, bills and the hospital’s website, among other things.

“Getting that perspective is really what this is about,” said Walker. “They’re there to advise us and to give us their perspective. They also work on short term projects related to education, information and committee work.”

Those interested in becoming a PFAC member are asked to fill out a questionnaire. Currently, the council consists of four community members and three employees. Walker and Catherine Herman coordinate the group. Typically, the group meets monthly.

One of the projects the group has advised on includes the legal forms used by patients to designate advanced directives. 

“This was a long project; it took quite a while,” said Walker. “We brought in health information folks and our attorney to get his opinion from a legal perspective. We worked together as a team and came up with a simplified version. It was quite a project, and finally we got it done, and we have packets that are now given to patients at the hospital or the clinic.” 

Walker said the information has been made available at the health fair and senior center. Forms can also be printed out from the NBHH website, under the health information heading.

“The council really worked hard on that project, and we’re getting positive feedback about the new forms,” said Walker. “Hospital employees told us it’s easier to explain to patients. The council’s feedback from the standpoint of an end user was extremely invaluable.”

The council also made suggestions about how to improve the website. 

“We’re still working on it,” said Walker. “There’s still some things we need to change, but we’re just making it more user friendly.”

Another project the council advised on was the hospital bill.

“They commented on how it looked, and there was a lot of input about areas they thought were confusing or hard to read,” said Walker.

Walker said getting this type of feedback directly from the end user has been helpful.

“It’s really about the patient experience, so if we really messed up somewhere, or we haven’t met the mark or failed to deliver the excellent care we strive to deliver, then we need to hear about that,” she explained. “We’ve looked at several things from this perspective. We talk about things that maybe didn’t go so well and how we can improve them. That’s really what this is all about.”

Walker said sometimes there are reasons that something is less than ideal.

“Sometimes there are reasons we can’t do certain things, like there’s a legal requirement or regulation,” she said. “For the most part, we’ve had really good suggestions from the council about how we can improve our patient experience when they come to North Big Horn, because we want them to have the best experience when they get here.”

A brochure is available through the hospital for those interested in being involved. The commitment is one to four hours per month. To participate the individual must have used the hospital’s services in the past. 

Walker said she is very pleased with the level of commitment of the current advisory council. Community members currently serving on the committee are Bruce Wacker, Jeff Pearson, Nicolle Laffin and Jennifer Triplett. Hospital staff members participating are Janel Thatch, Dalyn Farwell and Wynter Stein.