The Children's Medical Center of Dayton
Pay Your Bill
Find a Doctor
Service Excellence

Measuring customer service

Dayton Children’s is committed to providing the highest quality of care for our patients and families. Customer service, also known as service excellence, is a major component of our work. So, we take our job of listening to our patients and families very seriously.

We ask our patients and families about every aspect of their experience in a variety of ways and we do this on an ongoing basis. Asking these questions and acting on the results helps Dayton Children’s keep our promises to patients and families of providing the very best care in a child-friendly, healing environment.

How we measure

To gauge patient satisfaction, Dayton Children’s uses a combination of written surveys and telephone interviews with parents who recently received care for their child in one of 11 major clinical areas of the hospital.

How we score

Dayton Children’s organizational score is a composite of the survey scores from all 11 of these major clinical areas. The hospital’s goal for patient satisfaction is to score 90 or higher on a 100-point scale.

The hospital's overall patient satisfaction score reached 90 for the first time during July 2007 - December 2007. This was the result of the enitre hospital's commitment to meeting and exceeding customer expectations.

Key indicators

Below, you will find the composite scores for overall satisfaction as well as for several key indicators on these surveys. These are reported quarterly and include a fiscal year 2005-2006 benchmark and a fiscal year 2006-2007 and fiscal year 2007-2008 score to date.

Indicator FY 2005-2006 benchmark FY 2006-2007 FY 2007-2008 to date
Overall satisfaction 89 89 90
Overall quality of care 91 92 93
Staff sensitivity of a child's pain 88 87 90
Staff concern for privacy 91 91 92
Caring attitude of staff 93 93 95
Explanations by staff 90 90 92
Caring attitude of physician 92 92 93
Explanations by physician 89 89 91

Dedication to continuous improvement

Dayton Children’s continually works to improve the patient and family experience at the hospital. Some of the hospital’s ongoing work to help children in the community includes:

  • Participation in a collaborative to reduce central venous catheter-related bloodstream infections in the pediatric intensive care unit. Dayton Children’s pediatric intensive care unit went for more than 400 days without this type of infection—reducing the number of days that patients had to stay in the hospital. The hospital won a national award for the work to reduce these infections.
  • The hospital moved the central venous catheter-related bloodstream infections program to the newborn intensive care unit. The hospital went for more than a year without one of these infections in babies that weigh more than 1500 grams (about 3 pounds, 5 ounces).
  • Completed renovation of The Wallace Critical Care Complex, Dayton Children’s pediatric intensive care unit and intermediate care unit. This renovated complex recently won a national design award for its child-friendly, healing environment.
  • The renovation of three west, one of our general pediatric floors. This aquatic-themed unit provides more private rooms and the most up-to-date technology. Take a tour. 
  • The new outpatient care center gives the hospital more space to provide outpatient services. This additional space is helping Dayton Children’s attract more pediatric specialists to the area.
  • Room service has been started to make sure patients can order hot or cold meals anytime between 7:00 am and 7:00 pm. The new program allows children to order meals from their bedside. Staff will deliver the meal within 20 minutes. More than 150 kid-friendly selections are available.
  • A new parking garage provides ample, convenient and covered parking for patients, parents and families.
  • Dayton Children’s created SPIRIT standards for all employees. Employees are evaluated on service, professionalism, integrity, respect, innovation and teamwork. These standards address the customer service aspect of every employee’s job.
  • The hospital has established a central location for physicians and families to call when referring patients or scheduling appointments. This streamlined process makes it easier for physicians to make referrals and for families to get appointments.
  • Dayton Children’s has started providing earlier notification of surgery times to allow parents to plan their schedules more easily for the day of surgery.
  • A team of physicians, nurses, pharmacists and other clinical professionals have been meeting for more than a year to make sure Dayton Children's finds the best ways to reduce or manage pain associated with medical procedures. Recommended "positions of comfort" are now in practice at Dayton Children's.
  • Dayton Children’s employees have been focusing on service excellence. As part of this effort, the hospital has created several teams to look at how we provide customer service and how we can improve customer service to all of our customers including patients, families, physicians and other employees. Part of this focus is on improving explanations to parents about wait times, procedures and processes.
  • Patients who visit Dayton Children’s also benefit from age-appropriate toys and activities in waiting rooms, exam rooms and procedure rooms and flat screen televisions with video game systems in patient rooms. Volunteers work with parents to help them carry materials, get snacks or drinks, and watch and play with children to make the hospital process smoother.
  • Dayton Children’s is committed to protecting children at all times. The hospital has upgraded our security systems to ensure that children who are at the hospital are safe.
  • Dayton Children's also goes into the community to provide needed service. Community locations and partnerships in Beavercreek, Kettering, Lima, Middletown, Springboro, Springfield, Troy and Vandalia (opening 2008) bring pediatric experts to children and families throughout the region.
Phone
937-641-3666
1-800-228-4055 (Outside Montgomery County)

Location
Dayton Children's
One Children's Plaza
Dayton, Ohio 45404-1815
Copyright© 2008 The Children's Medical Center of Dayton
One Children's Plaza Dayton, Ohio 45404-1815 937-641-3000