Flushing Hospital Begins MAD Initiative

There is a new performance improvement initiative at Flushing Hospital that is addressing issues aimed at improving patient satisfaction — Making A Difference (MAD). 

Inspired by senior management, the MAD initiative is comprised of interdisciplinary teams, staffed by managers from nursing, social work, dietary, housekeeping, and financial services, just to name a few, who work together to improve the patient experience by rounding on the medical units and interacting with the patients. Specifically, the teams work to increase staff responsiveness in all areas of care. If a issue is brought to the team’s attention, they work to resolve it (in a timely manner) to ensure patient satisfaction.

To respond to these challenges, the teams initiated daily check-ins and instituted a “heads up/no pass zone”, where all staff members, both clinical and non-clinical, on the unit are responsible for immediately responding to the needs of their patients.

The MAD initiative was piloted at Jamaica Hospital and preliminary results showed a significant increase in patient satisfaction scores during the period of the performance improvement effort. Success of this pilot has led to a hospital-wide implementation of any new protocol developed through the process.

Deborah Duke, Patient Advocate and Director of Customer Service at Flushing Hospital, designed the teams and set the MAD round schedules. “We welcome the program and commend senior management and each team member for their dedication and commitment to raise the satisfaction of our patients experience at Flushing Hospital,” she stated.