Munson Medical Center: Constant Focus on Patient Satisfaction

Munson Medical Center is a 391-bed, nonprofit hospital located in Traverse City, Michigan. By focusing on patient satisfaction and engaging frontline staff in improving care, it has become one of the better large hospitals in the United States in terms of overall patient satisfaction, as measured by Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey. The following strategies appear to contribute to the hospital's success: ongoing measurement and feedback; high nurse-to-patient ratios, greater nurse authority under the "shared governance" model; acuity-adaptable patient rooms; mandated quiet time and staff relaxation rooms; and shift-to-shift bedside reports.