Service Excellence in Central Florida

From www.Army.mil, the Official Homepage of the United States Army By Rebecca Shinneman, Trust Enhancement & Sustainment Taskforce (posted April 12, 2011)

Central Florida is a hub for science, tourism hospitality and service excellence. Army Medicine’s Deputy Surgeon General, Major General Patricia Horoho, and the Trust Enhancement & Sustainment Taskforce experienced a variety of Central Florida’s service excellence and science organizations during a recent site visit March 6th through the 8th. The site visit to Central Florida was designed to showcase people and organizations who have built their success in service excellence.

The Surgeon General in September 2010 authorized the creation of the Trust Sustainment & Enhancement Task Force (TES-TF) to design and implement a strategic initiative to build a Culture of Trust throughout Army Medicine. TES-TF Director, Claudette Elliott, PhD stated the visit “was to gain valuable insight on the correlation between trust in the workplace and service excellence.”

The team visited the Rosen Medical Center to gain an understanding of the Rosen health care model. The model demonstrates how a private company can provide preventative health care for employees and family members at a cost below the national average. The site visit also included an overview of the University of Central Florida’s Rosen College for Hospitality Management. At the college, the team learned about some of the components of hospitality management and the principal of diversity as a strength, the importance of leadership demonstrating desired behaviors, service values and culture cohesion.

The team’s highlight of the day was the visit to the Army Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation (PEO STRI) and Research & Development Command (RDECOM). At PEO STRI and RDECOM the team was educated on the advances in medical simulation and the benefits of training simulation for combat medics and the medical field. The visit culminated with a tour of the facility and live demonstrations of some of the latest medical simulation programs. Regarding the medical simulation demonstrations, Horoho said “technology such as this will provide enhanced training for our combat medics and the future of the simulations will improve care for our patients and save lives on the battlefield.”

Throughout the visit, the team gained new ideas and perspectives on building a Culture of Trust with service excellence, employee empowerment and personal success stories. A truly inspiring portion of the off-site was a visit with Mr Stan Patterson, a leading Prosthetist who works with amputees from across the world. The team was privileged to meet with an injured service member who demonstrated his new prosthetic leg which gave him the ability to continue golfing; a sport the service member enjoyed prior to his injury and now will be able to continue to enjoy. The numerous motivational stories were inspirational to all and reinforced the teams’ commitment to bringing value and inspiring trust.

The team then visited the Shades of Green Armed Forces Recreation Center and toured their recently remodeled Wounded Warrior suites. The suites are designed to accommodate a variety of wounded, ill and injured service members and their families. The rooms are created specifically to facilitate relaxation and the enjoyment of Central Florida. Rooms specifically designed to provide access for all is just one example of service excellence extended to our wounded warriors.

The March 2011 site visit included other health care facilities and the Florida Hospital for Children. The health care facilities were designed with the concept of taking care of the whole family with exceptional service excellence. This provided the team with a look at private sector healthcare to gain valuable ideas for standardization, new construction and incorporation into Army Medicine’s patient care. These ideas will assist Army Medicine and the team to inspire and implement a Culture of Trust.

Over the next few months the Trust Sustainment & Enhancement Task Force will begin initial implementation of assessments and training which support the Culture of Trust initiative. These efforts will include a Comprehensive Trust Assessment (CTA), track sessions at the upcoming AUSA Army Medical Symposium and preliminary, individualized onsite training throughout Army Medicine.

The Task Force is also partnering with PEO STRI to help tell Army Medicine’s story and promote the Culture of Trust. Additionally, the Task Force is partnering with IDEAS, a creative think tank located in Orlando, FL. IDEAS originally worked with Army Medicine to help create “Back to Basics”, a care and service model for Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The Task Force will be working with IDEAS to refine the care and service training for implementation across Army Medicine.

In addition, the Task Force is supporting Army Medicine’s launching of the Community Based Medical Homes. Army Medicine will be working with IDEAS to deliver a successful approach to patient/family care and service with the Patient Centered Medical Home care experience. These primary care facilities support Army Medicine’s commitment to providing the best care possible to warrior families.

Horoho stated “The visit was a success and very inspirational. The team brought back with them new ideas for service excellence which will assist us in implementing a Culture of Trust throughout Army Medicine.” A Culture of Trust is a shared set of relationship skills, beliefs and behaviors that will distinguish Army Medicine’s commitment to provide the highest quality and access to health services. It is based on confidence – confidence that Army Medicine is competent, capable, and committed.

Trust along with transparency creates the conditions in which internal talent thrives, patients receive the best care, and stakeholders Trust that we, Army Medicine, deliver what we say we will deliver. Army Medicine is bringing value and inspiring trust.

Click HERE to view the article on the Army website. And click HERE to read more about our work at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.