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The Consumer Satisfaction Team of Montgomery County (CST) conducted surveys for Magellan Insurance at the Montgomery am of County In-Patient Hospitals: Brooke Glen, Horsham Clinic, and Montgomery County Emergency Services (MCES). The purpose of the survey was to gather information about the satisfaction of services that customers of Magellan Insurance receive at these hospitals.
The survey tool was based on past and current experiences and knowledge of being in these hospitals from the Consumer Satisfaction Team staff, who themselves are customers of Montgomery County's Mental Health services, as well as from the hospital's websites and/or brochures of what their function is and the services they provide. Also, three State mandated questions were included at the beginning of the survey.
Participants in the survey were adult customers who voluntarily committed themselves to a hospital stay, who were there 3 days or more, and had Magellan Insurance. The sample size for each hospital was as follows: Brooke Glen: 16, Horsham Clinic: 22, and MCES: 76. In addition, CST sent out follow up surveys to customers discharged from MCES using the same criteria as above, which is included in the report as part of the sample size of 76 needed from MCES.
The CST Project Coordinator contacted the designated representative from the hospital sites and set up a time that was the most convenient for the customers to meet with CST. For the surveys for the customers discharged from MCES, the Project Coordinator received the names from a Magellan staff member.
Two to four CST staff members went to each hospital to conduct the surveys. Hospital staff members were asked to leave the room where the surveying took place so the customers would feel more comfortable to give honest feedback in a private setting, although they were invited to stay to listen to the introductions of what CST does as an agency and to get to know the CST staff a little better. The purpose of the survey was discussed with each customer before the surveying began in addition to the group introduction when first arriving. Each customer had the option to participate or not. Everyone who did participate received a $5 courtesy payment for taking the time to meet with us. The CST staff explained any of the customers' questions and about the survey process. The CST staff wrote down every answer to open-ended questions word for word in order to represent each person's voice accurately. CST staff went to MCES almost every Tuesday morning from September-February, Brooke Glen almost every Thursday afternoon from September to February and Horsham Clinic almost every Tuesday from October to February. Over the months of September to December, surveys were sent out to 102 customers who were discharged from MCES, including a letter and a stamped return envelope. Everyone who completed the survey got a five dollar courtesy payment. Many were returned due to wrong addresses and 18 were returned completed.
The data received from each customer was entered into the Snap8 survey database program by CST staff members. It was then compiled with every customer's comments and answers into a "raw data format". The raw numbers were then converted into percentages. In addition, a summary report was made, which consisted of four sections: General Information, Overall Summary, Highlighted Questions, and State Questions. Graphs were applied to the "Highlighted Questions" section. The comments included in the report were selected by the Project Coordinator with balance and relevance to the questions asked. The CST Observations section is attached on a separate sheet. The CST staff members came to a consensus to rate each hospital's environment and safety, and any comments they had. The aggregate report results have statistical comparisons from 2008 where applicable. Some of the results from the questions that were asked in the 2009 surveying were not asked in the 2008 surveying, and therefore have no data to compare.
Some of the CST staff members including the Director and Project Coordinator will meet with the Inpatient Hospital Directors to discuss the results about one to two months after the report is sent out. Within three months of the meeting the Directors will send back their Plan of Action, which will include at least one strength identified to celebrate/explore/learn from and two to three opportunities to change/grow/discover, to CST and the County contact for this project. The survey tool for next year will include questions that refer to some of the identified strengths and opportunities for change the hospitals said they were going to be working on within that year to assess their implementation. The purpose of the process is to establish a communication and action process that ensures that the customer's voice is heard and acted upon.
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