The Science Of Clinical Care - Case Example
In October of 2001, the Nation's Capital was reeling from the aftermath of September 11, 2001. Dr. Thom Mayer, our President and CEO, and Doctor Dan Hanfling, our Chief of Disaster Medicine, had served at the Pentagon Rescue Operations on September 11, 2001 and were already trusted as National Resources by the Department of Defense and the Department of Health and Human Services. Now the ED's in the National Capital area faced an unprecedented crisis - the first outbreak of bioterrorism in history.

BestPractices™ physicians were the first to successfully diagnose and treat inhalational anthrax, saving many lives in the process and paving the way for a new and aggressive approach to treatment of the disease. While these are dramatic examples of BestPractices'™ clinical excellence, our emergency physicians are the best in the country, and they prove it every day - one patient at a time. Our physicians are national leaders in emergency department patient safety, particularly due to our program Creating the Risk-Free Emergency Department,™ which is an evidence-based approach taught to all of our emergency physicians. Overseen by Doctor Mayer and Doctor John Howell (our Director of Academic Affairs – and one of the most widely-respected emergency medicine educators), this approach takes the guesswork out of the practice of emergency medicine and turns into a high-reliability organization.

The Art of Customer Service - Case Example
In 2005, Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital in Parkersburg, West Virginia faced a serious challenge. Its emergency department was seeing over 44,000 patients, but patient satisfaction scores were at the 1st percentile nationally, patients left without being seen exceeded 10%, and morale was at an all time low among the ED staff. Following an exhaustive nation-wide search, Tom Corder, the CEO, Mike King, the COO, and Kathy Decker, the CNE, along with a search committee, selected BestPractices™ to guide the cultural transition of the emergency department. Part of their decision was based on the reputation for service excellence BestPractices™ had developed at Inova Health System, one the nation’s most widely respected healthcare systems, where BestPractices™ physicians consistently score over the 90th percentile in customer satisfaction scores, and have won the coveted Press Ganey Compass Award.

BestPractices™ recruited and trained a highly talented and energetic Medical Director, Anthony Kitchen, M.D., FACEP, and a team of great emergency physicians and mid-level providers. BestPractices taught its nationally-acclaimed Survival Skills© course to all ED staff as well as provided copies of the textbook, Leadership for Great Customer Service, written by our Founder for the American College of Healthcare Executives. Under the leadership of Doctor Kitchen, a great nursing team, and administration, within one year Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital’s Emergency Department satisfaction scores skyrocketed from the 1st to the 77th percentile, the largest one year rise in Gallup score history, resulting in the ED winning the 2006 National Gallup Award for Healthcare Excellence. ED volumes and market share increased, and left without treatments dropped below 3%. If customer service is important to you and your organization, BestPractices™ is your best choice.

The Business of Execution - Case Example
In 2006, Bruce Crowther, the Chief Executive Officer, and Leighton Smith, M.D., the Vice President for Medical Affairs of Northwest Community Hospital faced a serious problem with regard to leadership of their nationally-recognized Emergency Department. The previous Medical Director was retiring and while their emergency physicians were excellent clinicians, they lacked the leadership and management skills to guide the 50,000 Emergency Department and trauma center, as well as the three 24-hour free-standing Emergency Departments of Northwest Community Hospital. Based on their unparalleled reputation for leadership, training and mentoring, BestPractices™ was selected to lead this already prestigious Emergency Department and their excellent group of clinicians. Mike Born, M.D., FACEP, an experienced and trusted Medical Director, was recruited and trained at the BestPractices Institute™ in the cutting edge leadership and management techniques necessary to guide a talented and articulate group of professionals. He has done an exemplary job working with the hospital, its nursing staff, administration, and the emergency physicians to develop a team of high performing professionals. Doctor Born recruited a group of pediatric emergency physicians, creating a Section of Pediatric Emergency Medicine at Northwest Community Hospital.

BestPractices™’ experience in recruiting and training elite Medical Directors is a distinguishing feature of the group. Doctor Mayer and Doctor Jensen, our Founder and Chief Medical Officer respectively, are among the most respected speakers on healthcare leadership and management, as attested to by the fact that they are keynote speakers at the American College of Emergency Physicians Emergency Department Directors Academy. Doctor Mayer is the lead editor of Emergency Department Management: Principles and Applications. He and Doctor Jensen have recently published Leadership for Smooth Patient Flow, published by the American College of Healthcare executives. Doctor Mayer and Doctor Jensen, as well as other members of our Physician Leadership Team are in continual contact with each of our Medical Directors, providing mentoring, training, and ongoing developments in emergency department leadership.

If your emergency department needs effective leadership, BestPractices™ is your best choice.