Part 2 of the Milford Patient Family Advisory Council story: Results and Reflections

In Part 1, Beverly Swymer told the story of how the Patient Family Advisory Council of Milford Regional Medical Center improved care in the Emergency Room for behavioral health patients.

As Part 2, here are my thoughts on their results, and their ingredients of success. –Ken Farbstein

This effort reduced E.R. recidivism by 82% among a group of behavioral health patients who had frequently used Milford’s E.R. (from 7.3 visits/patient to 1.3, n=12 patients over the period of four months before, and four months after, these changes took effect).  This was probably particularly helpful in freeing E.R. capacity because the number of behavioral health E.R. visits at Milford had been growing about 7% each year.  

In interviewing Beverly, I had urged her to elaborate on her role, and I was puzzled at the absence of “I” in her answers. We often preach about the importance of collaborative styles, but rarely see them in practice.  I came to realize that I was hearing from a genuinely collaborative, self-effacing leader.  Beverly served on the PFAC after her long career at Milford as a nurse ended in 2009.  Her leadership style, or indeed her nature, along with her acquaintance with many of the staff, and the active participation of staff including the Chair of Emergency Medicine, helped to bring about these solid accomplishments.  

When I asked bluntly about her own role and contribution, she answered wisely, in a way that might sound clichéd in someone else’s mouth:  “It’s very important to make people feel empowered, to impact the journey, to think this will come about if we work on this together, like we did with rounds in the E.R.  The PFAC was a vehicle to come together to see what we could do to make a difference, and we did make a difference.”

Read about other accomplishments of Milford Regional's PFAC.  Thanks to Terri McDonald, Kim Munto, and Beverly Swymer for these stories.