Eleanor Ball, who welcomes patients at the main entrance of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, greets everyone with a smile. “Most people are scared when they come in,” she said. “When they see a smile, it makes a big difference.”
A smile is just one component of how HUP's ambassadors or “Red Coats” make every patient’s experience a good one. “We want to exceed the expectations of our patients and their families,” said Mona Matson, associate director of Patient and Guest Relations & Reception.
To help ensure that all patients and visitors who enter HUP or the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine receive the same welcoming experience, the ambassadors at the four information desks and the greeters at the front entrances of both facilities recently underwent service excellence training. The three-week training program included learning the AIDET (acknowledge, introduce, duration, explanation, thank) patient communication model, role playing and shadowing sessions.
For Joan Durso, who works on the upper level atrium information desk of the Perelman Center, the training helped to "remind me why we’re here. How important we are, as the first people patients see. I think it colors the entire course of treatment.”
Durso makes a special effort to approach people who look lost or stand there holding a piece of paper and looking around. "Sometimes it’s just because I see their face and how afraid they are.”
She has become friends with many patients, especially those who come for radiation oncology treatments, which last weeks. “What I do is part of the whole experience at Perelman. You can’t get that by just ‘doing the job.’ ”
As a greeter for patients and families arriving at the Perelman Center, Joe Casertano said the training “reinforced what I do. I enjoy people and that’s number one for doing this job. I like to help people.”
As part of the service excellence program, the ambassadors received new uniforms: a red coat (hence the nickname), black pants, white shirt with a red, white and blue ascot. “It’s easier to identify us. We stand out,” Durso said.
Patients and visitors have noticed the difference since the initiative began last fall. One patient wrote, "I wanted to take the time to share with you our appreciation for Mr. Joseph Robinson. He is always so cheerful and helpful when I pull up for valet.... You must be doing a wonderful job training your employees to have positive and helpful attitudes. It really makes a difference!"
“Each of our staff has special skills but they all share in their desire to help people,” Matson said. “That’s the kind of people you want to welcome patients and families.”