Jamaica Hospital & Flushing Hospital Medical Centers

Flushing Hospital Medical Center
Flushing Hospital Medical Center

Sabiha Raoof, MD, has a number of distinguished roles – CMO, Patient Safety Officer, and Chairperson in the Departments of Radiology at Jamaica and Flushing Medical Centers in Queens, NY. However, her passion for person and family engagement (PFE) is fueled by her own experience as a patient and breast cancer survivor. Despite her expertise as a medical professional, she found it overwhelming, disjointed, and the opposite of patient-centered. She realized how much more difficult it must be for other people who do not interact daily with the health care system, when they are faced with difficult health care diagnoses.

In her own radiology practice, Dr. Raoof is most proud of creating an effective way to capture the patient voice – a simple point-of-care text survey that is sent to the patient’s phone within three hours of leaving an appointment. It asks five simple questions. The response rate has been 10-15%. As soon as the patient responds (the average response time is 45 min.), a designated staff person follows up by phone with those not satisfied with their experience. A 24-hour report is then sent to department administrators. Listening to the patients’ concerns has helped staff identify areas for improvement and learn about patient suggestions for ways to make care better for others. “We are integrating the patient voice real time. Each day, I receive a summary of patient feedback from the last 24 hours. Our patient satisfaction has improved but one of the most surprising and positive outcomes has been the boost in employee morale,” says Dr. Raoof.

At Jamaica Hospital, Dr. Raoof also started another innovative program to hear more directly from patients about their needs. She began visiting patients on one of the floors, listened to them, and helped solve issues – both small and large. Soon other clinicians and staff joined her on these weekly “Make a Difference” or MAD rounds. The MAD rounds, including a video, are featured in a case study, When the Radiologist Becomes the Patient, developed by the American College of Radiology.