What Do You Think Makes a Hospital Great?

This article called “What Makes a Hospital Great” appeared yesterday in the NY Times. Click here to read it.

It talks about what makes a great hospital. Now I know we have talked about this many a time but it was so interesting to see that the "little things" are as important to people as the big things. This also coincides with me attending the AIDET training hosted by Family Faculty this week. You need to attend the training to find out what AIDET stands for but so much of all of the best practices are common sense.

I often think about needing the fancy equipment and the best of everything for our patients. What the article basically asserts is that customers expect that you will have all of those things but what makes you stand out and gain their trust is the basics - communication, respect, and a focus on listening.

I would be interested in what you think makes a great hospital - either from your experience here, or as a patient, or what you have seen in caring for family members.