Policies for the Public Communication Department

Maimonides Medical Center is one of the largest teaching hospitals in the US, ranked in the top five percent nationwide for clinical performance. The employees of the Public Communication Department are typically the first point of contact for patients and visitors. The department leadership sought to ensure a consistent level of high quality customer service by codifying a set of policies and procedures to manage all incoming public communications, while setting clear expectations and accountability for the staff. The Capstone team observed two hospital front desks and the telephone operator station in order to capture the types of issues that arise and establish best practices for managing them. The team analyzed their findings against hospital-wide policies to establish a practical set of departmental policies. The team created an employee handbook and electronic version for ease of use. These policies will be used to improve performance and accountability within the Department of Public Communication.