Iris Gonzalo-Sowle BS, RN-BC, ONC and Donna Trerise BSN, RN, CCM Using Whiteboards to Promote Interdisciplinary Collaboration and Increase Patient Satisfaction Iris Gonzalo-Sowle BS, RN-BC, ONC and Donna Trerise BSN, RN, CCM Saratoga Hospital Saratoga Springs, NY Introduction One of the most frequent causes of adverse events is communication failure. The Joint Commission reports that such failures contributed to 65% of reported sentinel events (Sehgal, Green, Vidyarthi, Blegen, & Wachter, 2010). One of the National Patient Safety Goals (NPSG) in 2007 was “to encourage patient’s active involvement in their own care as a safety strategy” (The Joint Commission, 2007). Patients’ experiences in US hospitals are being publicly reported for the first time in a standardized way via the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS); of the six domains reported, three directly depend on effective communication between health care providers and patients (Singh et al., 2010). The utilization of whiteboards in patients’ rooms is considered a simple yet effective tool to improve patients’ satisfaction with communication in the inpatient setting. Whiteboards can also help encourage them in decisions about their own care (Singh et al., 2010). Methods A basic blank whiteboard was introduced on the orthopaedic unit when it opened in October 2010. A more structured whiteboard with templates was introduced hospital-wide on the inpatient units between March and April 2011. Several disciplines use the whiteboard to engage the patient in their care by providing information such as nursing staff involved in their care, anticipated discharge date, planned PT/OT therapy, weight bearing status, pain management, VAS pain scale, and tests and procedures scheduled. Patient satisfaction is measured using the Press Ganey Inpatient Survey. The HCAHPS Survey for inpatients is also used to measure patient satisfaction. Tools Conclusions Since the utilization of whiteboards in late quarter 2010, Press Ganey patient satisfaction scores for “Nurses Kept You Informed” has increased from a mean of 89.3 to 94. The HCAHPS percentage for “Communication with Nurses-Always” has been consistently above 81%. This places Saratoga Hospital in the 86th percentile rank against all facilities in the database. The HCAHPS percentage for “Pain Management-Always” has been above 77%. This places Saratoga Hospital in the 90th percentile rank against all facilities in the database. Original Whiteboard 2010 Current Whiteboard Recommendations Patient whiteboards require defined goals, thoughtful planning, regular monitoring, and ongoing evaluation (Seghal et al., 2010). Blank whiteboards lead to less standardization in practice and fail to create prompts for providers to both write and review the content available. Structured formats for whiteboards may be more effective in ensuring both important and accurate information gets included (Seghal et al., 2010). The strategy of using whiteboards as part of an interdisciplinary model that emphasizes team communications are noticed by patients and help improve patient satisfaction with the quality of communications (Cumbler, 2011). The use of whiteboards has been shown to improve patient perception of communication, as patients respond to concrete visual explanations and reminders (Tan, Evans, Braddock, & Shieh, 2013). References Cumbler, E. (2011). Program aims to improve communications. Healthcare Benchmarks and Quality Improvement, December 2011, 137-138. The Joint Commission. (2007). National patient safety goals 2007 for hospital/critical access hospital. Retrieved from http://www.joint commission.org/patientsafety/nationalpatientsafetygoals/ 07_hap_cah_npsgs.htm. Sehgal, N. L., Green, A., Vidyarthi, A. R., Blegen, M. A., & Wachter, R. M. (2010). Patient whiteboards as a communication tool in the hospital setting: A survey of practices and recommendations. Journal of Hospital Medicine, 5(4), 234-239. doi: 101.1002/jhm.638 Singh, S., Fletcher, K. E., Pandl, G. J., Schapira, M. M., Nattinger, A. B., Biblo, L. A., & Whittle, J. (2010). It’s the writing on the wall: Whiteboards improve inpatient satisfaction with provider communication. American Journal of Medical Quality, 26(2), 127-131. doi: 10.1177/1062860610376088 Tan, M., Evans, K. H., Braddock III, C. H., & Shieh, L. (2013). Patient whiteboards to improve patient-centred care in the hospital. Postgraduate Medical Journal, August 2013, 1-6. doi: 10.1136/postgradmedj-2012-131296 Results Objective Describe three ways how patient satisfaction is increased through the use of whiteboards during the hospitalization. National Association of Orthopaedic Nurses 34th Annual Congress, May 17-20, 2014