YORN allows patients to voice concerns

PHILADELPHIA - September 19, 2013 (WPVI) -- A new interactive tool will allow patients at Penn Health Care to voice concerns to the medical staff in real time.

Customer satisfaction is important in almost every industry, especially in medicine. If customers or patients are happy, it can boost the medical center's reputation and possibly even reimbursement.

So now there is a new tool, it's called YORN - Your Opinion Right Now.

Penn will be the first hospital to use it starting in just a few weeks.

Surgical resident, Dr. Meera Gupta was searching for another way to interact with patients and get feedback when she came across an interactive site called YORN. Think of it as instant messaging to hospital staff about your overall experience, good or bad.

"For patients, it gives them a voice," Gupta said.

Here's how it works:

At check-in patients will be asked to opt-in.

A secure link will then be sent to a mobile device like a smartphone or tablet. Staff then monitor a "dashboard" feed.

You simply rate services or message about a non-medical problem or concern

"Whether it be the physicians or the nurse, that person can make sure that those issues are resolved," Gupta said.

Dr. Gupta says a three month trial run has helped zero in on things that needed some adjustments.

"We had a patient mention that the shower curtains on one of the floors were too short and when they showered the bathrooms would get all wet," Gupta said.

She says, in just days, all the shower curtains were switched out.

"It was a risk for falling in the bathroom," Gupta said.

Rick Rasansky is the brainchild behind Philadelphia-based YORN.

"I think it is going to raise the bar for patient satisfaction," Rasansky said.

He says the service is designed to eliminate what he calls "social media chatter."

"Social media kind of broadcasts the chatter in a misdirected fashion because it broadcasts it out to a lot of people who may not care about what you are saying," Rasansky said.

But with YORN problems are directed to the people who can fix them.

Dr. Gupta is looking forward to making the patient experience a happier one.

YORN will roll out at the hospital in mid-October.

Out-patient services are expected to have the service in the next few months.

ONLINE: YORN.com

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lifestyle, healthcheck, ali gorman, r.n.

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