Special Treatment, Please: Barnes-Jewish Hospital’s Welcoming Approach Makes Patients Feel at Home
// By Lisa D. Ellis //
Today, the patient comes first in many health care facilities. This is thanks to developments brought about by health care reform that put an increased emphasis on stronger teamwork between clinical staff and health care consumers to ensure high-quality, value-focused care and patient satisfaction.
But how organizations are putting this concept into action can vary a great deal.
At Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, several customer-oriented programs are deeply integrated into the facility’s framework to help people feel truly comfortable with the care they receive. Such customer-focused programs include (among many others) concierge services through the Washington University and Barnes-Jewish Heart & Vascular Center, and culturally sensitive initiatives for women offered through its inpatient care and ambulatory screening programs.
In this first of a two-part series, we take an in-depth look at the concierge services, which strive to make a large university-affiliated hospital feel more comfortable and homey for patients and family.
Concierge Services in the Heart & Vascular Center
Barnes-Jewish Hospital at Washington University Medical Center is the largest hospital in Missouri. Barnes-Jewish Hospital is a 1,315-bed teaching hospital affiliated with Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The hospital has a 1,763-member medical staff, with many recognized as “Best Doctors in America.” Barnes-Jewish is a member of BJC HealthCare, which provides a full range of health care services through its 12 hospitals and more than 100 health care sites in Missouri and Illinois. Its service area includes a radius of approximately 250 to 300 miles surrounding St. Louis, which means that some patients must travel several hours or even longer to access the hospital’s services, including those through the Heart & Vascular Center, which opened its doors about six years ago.
To make patients and their families feel more comfortable in the clinical setting and to reduce their stress levels in the health care setting, the Heart & Vascular Center’s designated concierge program was created five years ago and has since become an expected level of care for all who come to the center.
Unlike the more extravagant level of service offerings provided at some well-known health centers around the country that are tailored specifically for VIPs such as high-ranking executives, politicians, and celebrities, the Heart & Vascular Center makes its special treatments accessible for the general population, so everyone can access these features.