Scotland Health Care System Launches Patient Initiative

LAURINBURG, N.C. — To celebrate Patient Experience Week (April 25 to 29), Scotland Health Care System located in Laurinburg launched a new program to help improve hospital stays for patients and their families, according to Laurinburg Exchange. The week’s theme was “We Are Patient Experience,” which not only showed appreciation towards families and patients at the hospital, but also for the doctors, nurses and hospital staff, who work to create a quality patient experience.

The new program, named the Patient Family Advisory Program, has the goal of creating an environment where patients, families, health care providers and staff can work together to improve the quality and safety of the patient’s experience. “Each associate, medical provide and volunteer at Scotland Health Care System serves a vital role in the patient experience,” said Sonja Frye, patient experience director, in a statement.

The system will include a group of patient-family advisors, according to Laurinburg Exchange. These advisors will work with the patients and their families by incorporating their own insight and recommendations to help ensure a positive experience and “capture the voice of the customer.” The patient-family advisors will be volunteering their time to provide insight and influence on policies, programs and hospital practices that could affect patient care. Although Scotland Health Care is just launching this program, patient experience has been a constant concern and an ongoing initiative for the health care system, according to Laurinburg Exchange. The hospital staff regularly receives information and training on patient care.

According to Frye, every encounter a hospital staff member has with a patient or the patient’s family is very important, as it influences whether the patient decides to use Scotland Health Care again and recommend their services to others, or seek out a different system, according to Laurinburg Exchange. The hospital uses patient survey responses as well as feedback to ensure a positive experience and improve their services to create a quality environment for patients.