Health Information Management

Survey your physicians

HIM Connection, August 23, 2005

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Regularly surveying your medical staff can help you find out what they think about your HIM department, pinpoint potential improvement areas, and encourage your staff.

Jo Ellen Cook, RHIT, director of HIM at Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids, IA, began surveying several years ago. Her survey asks physicians about transcription turnaround time and quality, telephone courtesy, and the doctors' suggestions for improvement. The survey hasn't found any significant problems but indicated that overall, physicians were satisfied with the HIM department's performance, Cook says. "We got good comments about being organized and being able to access records in a timely manner," she says, adding that her staff are interested in what physicians have to say.

Kim Wells-Ball, RHIT, CPC, started her position as HIM director at Barton Healthcare System in South Lake Tahoe, CA, a few months ago. She plans to survey the physicians and hospital staff about the HIM department. "This will give me the opportunity to review the processes in the areas of their complaints and start working on a goal list," she says. "I use their comments for process improvement initiatives and prioritizing those initiatives, or even find out about a problem I had no idea was happening."

Wells-Ball is also working on developing an action plan for scanning all medical records. She looks forward to feedback about the software program and physician concerns about the project.

Each department at Marshalltown (IA) Medical & Surgical Center surveys the physicians annually. Shari Grace, RHIA, director of HIM, says she finds the survey helpful. "I want to make sure that we're maintaining our high standards every year," she says. Grace looks forward to reading their comments. The vast majority are positive, so she finds that helpful for her staff. "I'm really happy that they get the recognition they deserve."



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