A 300 bed hospital lacked an integrated and automated system to track and analyze their patient complaints and compliments but instead used a paper-based comment management system. The paper-based system utilized six patient advocates, modular documentation of complaints, offered no system for accountability, and provided no ability to analyze data for trending and management tools.

The Client approached Prognosis after experiencing significant inefficiency with their paper-based comment management process. Their process inefficiencies ranged from labor overhead, unaddressed and misplaced complaints, laborious regulatory body reviews, and an inability to data mine. With a long-term strategy of increasing post-discharge patient satisfaction scores, the client expressed the need to track patient complaints, aggressively respond in a timelier manor, and analyze the complaint record for trending purposes in order to target areas of improvement. With the current systems in place, the Administrative Director of Customer Service had little control over the complaint process and no management tools to improve the hospital's performance.

The client's team proposed to implement Prognosis Solution's proprietary software program, Resolvv, an integrated and automated comment management system. Through a centralized set-up, the Resolvv program was located on two patient advocate computers, four hospital floor computers, as well as the Chief Nursing Officer and Administrative Director of Customer Service's computers. With multiple 'listening posts' through out the hospital, Resolvv captured comment data in real-time from patient comments, letters, phone calls, and comment cards. With Resolvv, the comments were logged, categorized (based on categories customized by the hospital), and immediately distributed to appropriate personnel for action via the hospital's internal email system. The system would also not only track comments history for regulatory compliance but would send trigger emails on risk management related complaints. The hospital was able to track 'frequent flyers' and prepare for bad-dept expenses. With patient comments, both positive and negative, logged in and categorized, data mining, for trending and managerial tools, was accessible at the push of a button. Expense history reports with regard to reimbursements were used for annual budgeting. Unresolved complaint lists, category analysis, year-to-date trends, department-category percentage complaint reports, as well as comment staff specific reports could be generated manually or set-up for automatic generation and distribution.

Within three months after the hospital implemented the new system, the hospital Administrative Director of Customer Service was able to see impressive results and benefits. More effectively capturing comments from letters, phone calls, and comment cards, the system increased the data capture and tracking by 80%. With comments logged into the system, distributed out, and the ability to generate 'unresolved comment' reports, Resolvv provided an immediate system of accountability with respect to department managers. Because of automatic letter generation, complaint documentation associated with each case number, and automatic distribution of comment log, the hospital was able to redistribute four of six patient advocates out on the floor, rather than in the office, managing the comment process. Resolvv improved the hospital's work-force efficiency by four employees. As a result, the hospital increased work-force efficiency by 67%. Moreover, with the ability to generate departmental and system-wide "areas for improvement" reports, management could more effectively utilize the new efficiency. Finally, with immediate notification of positive and negative comments regarding hospital staff, management was able to provide immediate feedback, bolstering employee moral and performance, ultimately leading to improved patient satisfaction.