“I have been in the software industry for almost 30 years. This is the first time that a software company has listened and implemented any of my suggestions. The only way that ever occurred in the past was when I was writing the code. So, I am elated that your company has incorporated my suggestions into their release. Please share my kudos with everyone else that was involved.”

Regards,

Paul Burkhardt
Application Support Analyst – MIS
Velcro USA Inc.

Thank you, Paul. Your compliment was so well received, we wanted to share it with our blog readers. ~Lynk Team

Hospitals and medical groups that utilize Everest to track and resolve complaints within patient relations have begun to collaborate with risk management in an effort to reduce potential litigation. How? They are quickly communicating with patients after receiving notification of a complaint. “Prior to implementing Everest,” shares one patient relations manager, “we had stacks of complaints waiting to be processed and not enough staff to enter them”. By automating patient feedback, patient relations is able to receive immediate notification directly from front-line employees through an Everest portal located at each nursing station.

Sorry Works!
In 2005, The Sorry Works! Coalition was founded in an effort to encourage hospitals to communicate with patients and their families about mistakes that are made as soon as the error is discovered. The cause of the error is investigated and procedure changes are intitiated. In some cases, the patient is offered a settlement. The core of this approach lies in the power of an apology. It doesn’t take a brain surgeon – or perhaps it does – to know that apologizing for a mistake you’ve made is the right thing to do.

The University of Illinois Medical Center in Chicago experienced this first hand upon implementing a formal apology program in 2006. Since then, the number of claims has declined by 40%. This isn’t just risk management, it’s human decency.

The Everest Healthcare Solution enables a consistent, paperless process for patient complaints and patient grievances. With Everest, the essential relationships between patients and providers are scalable across a large healthcare institution which often includes multiple locations and a network of affiliated group practices.

Once the stacks of patient complaints on paper have been replaced by a paperless, automated complaint resolution system, representatives from patient relations are free to actually visit patients to discuss their concerns, along with more often than not, offering a sincere apology.

Hospitals are quickly moving toward increased visibility when it comes to patient care. 25.8 billion dollars of Recovery Act (ARRA) funds is going toward Health Information Technology and establishing electronic health records. In addition, it’s increasingly important to capture feedback from the patients themselves about concerns involving a hospital stay.

The overarching goal, of course, is to improve care and reduce costs.  Duncan Regional Hospital and the five hospital network of  Wellstar Health System capture and track all feedback from patients with the Everest software solution for healthcare. 65% of patient complaints are received by front line employees. It is critical that employees have a way to efficiently document patient concerns in order to promptly resolve them and avoid further escalation.

Making it simple to record customer feedback is the first step. The Everest Healthcare Solution includes a patient feedback portal that is an online form any clinician or staffperson can rapidly fill out at any computer workstation on the Hospital’s intranet. There is no login required for staff to utilize the electronic form so there is no limitation on usage or the volume of submissions. The result is a fast, simple paperless process for capturing all types of patient feedback.  Nurses and other healthcare professionals are busy and need to be able to enter a complaint, concern or service recovery as soon as they walk out of the patient’s room. Once the feedback is in Everest, it can be reviewed by a member of patient relations or the patient advocate to ensure that there is appropriate follow-up and resolution.

Excellent patient care  is the priority for these hospitals, but there are other goals as well. Everest includes real-time reporting and data analysis for ongoing performance improvement, quality management and  identifying systemic issues. Tracking actions with due dates and automatic email reminders is also an important way Everest helps improve accountability and promote full engagement across a large healthcare network especially those who serve patients across multiple locations.

Minimizing litigation risk is also important, and keeping good records is critical when it comes to preventing escalation of an issue.

Finally, management and administration can view this information at any time to monitor trends, view analytics, and discover where to focus hospital resources to achieve the best improvements in patient care.

Customer Case Study Video Interview with Accutron Quality Manager

Learn how the Quality Manager at Accutron achieved a huge 50% reduction in returns as a result of implementing the Everest Software Solution for Customer Service, Complaint Tracking and Corrective Actions with real-time Reports and Charts.

We’ve just put the wrapper on our new 6.0.4 Release for 2010! The official announcement and other details will be out very soon. In the meantime, here is a preview of new features you may find of interest. Release Notes: http://www.lynksoftware.com/help/default.htm?release_notes.htm .

Reports | Action Reports
Extensive standard reporting options for Actions are now available.
http://www.lynksoftware.com/help/default.htm?action_reports.htm

Reports | Queries
Now you can copy or rename a Query.
http://www.lynksoftware.com/help/default.htm?queries.htm

Administration | Imports
Three new import formats are now available.
http://www.lynksoftware.com/help/default.htm?imports.htm

• Concern Type Import
• Defect Code Import
• Sales Activity Import

Administration | Notifications
A new list view format for QuickLink URLs in notification templates will display the list of Concerns by Owner or Actions by Owner for the User immediately upon login.
http://www.lynksoftware.com/help/default.htm?keywords.htm

Administration | Logged In Users
System Managers can now view a list of users who are currently logged into Everest in Administration | Logged In Users. http://www.lynksoftware.com/help/default.htm?logged_in_users.htm

Two separate state Department of Transportation agencies choose Everest by Lynk Software for constituent complaint tracking.

The State of New Mexico, Department of Transportation will utilize Everest to track and resolve constituent concerns across all divisions within the department. The State of Idaho Tranportation Department  is now tracking car dealership complaints with Everest.

We are pleased to welcome both of these state DOT agencies as new Everest customers. It is certainly interesting that two separate state transportation departments have simultaneously chosen Everest.  Could the Everest software become the citizen complaint tracking system of choice for other DOT agencies throughout the United States in 2010? It is certainly possible since our nation’s highways, bridges and roads are an important focus area for a large amount of federal stimulus funding.

President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) into law on February 17, 2009. Since that time, nearly two-thirds of the $26.6 billion in Recovery Act funding available to the States for highway investment has been obligated and thousands of projects are underway. These projects create jobs for Americans and the transportation infrastructure improvements are very important for public safety and commerce.  For further details see: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration.

We recently had the privilege of interviewing several managers from Accutron, a medical device manufacturer that uses Everest to track product returns and internal non-conformances. It was a great experience to get a glimpse of the daily operations of this extraordinary organization along with some feedback about how successful they’ve been since implementing the Everest software solution in 2007.

We spoke to both the Quality Manager and the IT Manager about how Everest has changed things in their respective departments.

Let’s be honest, IT Managers frequently have love/hate relationships with outside software vendors, which is why we were so pleased to hear Mark Koenig proudly describe how Everest makes his life easier. He expressed appreciation for the integrity and quality of the product, saying that the the fact that it is so low maintenance frees him up to take care of other things. Mark sums it up simply from the IT perspective, “Everest is bulletproof.”

Ram Chaturvedi, the Quality Manager, enthusiastically reported a 50% reduction in product returns, high employee engagement and increased communication between departments.

I’m sure Accutron’s success has a lot to do with the positive attitude of these two managers and their employees, yet the fact that their jobs have become easier while product quality continues to excel makes us proud of the work we do for you… our customers.

…Stay tuned for the upcoming Accutron video case study, coming soon!

How does customer complaint tracking relate to employee accountability?

Through recent communication with Everest customers, we have discovered a surprising benefit associated with tracking customer complaints. Because every notification about customer or product issues is recorded in the Everest database, managers are finding employee responsiveness and accountability levels soaring.

One enthusiastic customer shared, “No one can say, ‘I didn’t know about it’ because the notification is recorded in Everest.”

Employees from different departments are now able to complete their action items and record the completed status in Everest. As a result of this improved internal communication and accountability, organizations can work together like well-tuned machines.

Accountability is essential to employee engagement. What gets measured is what gets done. Ownership, due dates, automatic email reminders, action tracking and real-time reporting are a few of the specific software features that reinforce individual accountability in Everest. WIth little or no added effort required by management, those who use the Everest software tend to be passionate and engaged in their work.

The feelings of accomplishment that result encourage employees to look above routine tasks to make extra effort which directly improves the overall welfare of the business. Most importantly, the easiest way to cultivate passionate, engaged customers is with passionate, engaged employees.

We are pleasantly surprised at how much Everest is helping departments work together so seamlessly. This has always been the idea behind our complaint resolution software, but to hear it over and over again from customers is highly rewarding.

We want to share a simple short list of the top software features our customers love about the Everest software solution. The four favorite features of Everest are:

1. Automatic Email Reminders
Users automatically receive email messages to trigger a helpful reminder based on the due dates for a pending concern or action item.
There are 3 tiers of reminders available:

• Reminder = email message triggered before a due date, sent to Owner
• Past Due = email message triggered after a due date, sent to Owner
• Escalation = email message triggered after a due date, sent to Owner’s Manager

“Our turn-around time for customer response dropped from 20 days to two days.”
- Zetex Semiconductor

2. Built-in Configuration
One of the main reasons customers choose Everest is because of the extensive built-in configuration options all organized in point-and-click menus. This is how the same Everest software product transforms into a very unique solution for every customer. Button titles, data names, fields, drop-down classifications and templates are easily tailored for each installation.

“We have implemented the complaint management system across all of OneSteel Manufacturing units in a timetable that I did not imagine possible.”
- OneSteel

3. Notification Templates
Printed or emailed letters based on pre-defined templates ensure consistency in all formal customer communication. Automatic keyword insertion allows specific information from the database to be inserted into the text area of the message.

“For our consumers, Everest has probably made the biggest overall impact. The letters or emails that our consumers receive are so much easier to do now that Everest allows us to drop all the significant information into over 30 frame letters that contain some of our favorite language that we use to start a consumer letter.”
- Red Gold Tomatoes

4. Reports and Charts
Everest includes dozens of standard reports and charts with optional selection criteria for dates, status, locations or departments. Charts include a double-click drill-down feature to instantly explore how the data is related. See chart details with the totals for customers, concern types, products, product groups and reason codes.

“The Everest software provides our staff and clinicians with real-time, accurate and actionable information essential to quality patient care.”
- WellStar Health System

Add your own comment below and tell us what you like best about Everest. . .

Unique Device Identification, also known as UDI, is coming in 2010. All manufacturers of medical devices will be required to comply with the new UDI methodology. The Everest software solution for customer complaints and corrective action tracking includes several features to help medical device manufacturers track a UDI as it relates to all types of medical device problems or defects including: 

• customer complaints
• return authorizations
• product defects
• adverse event – MDR

The FDA UDI Rule will establish a single device identification system that is consistent, unambiguous, standardized, and globally harmonized.

At the device level, marking procedures may include bar code, radio frequency identification (RFID) and direct part marking (DPM). At the organization level, the new UDI methodology offers opportunities for improvement in traceability, recalls, electronic records, materials management, defect analysis and problem resolution.

For FDA regulated medical device manufacturers, the Everest software solution is highly configurable for customer complaints, non-conforming product and corrective action tracking. Here are a few key Everest software features related to UDI…

Product Fields
“Based on a specific UDI, what are the product details related to the customer or patient concern?”

Shipped and Defective Quantities along with Serial Number, Lot Number and user defined fields for any other product details, including the UDI.

Product List
“Based on a specific UDI, how many other problems have been reported for the same type of device or related products?”

Everest includes a master product list based on; Product Id, Description, Product Group and Manufacturing Location. The product list can be imported from a spreadsheet template or updated systematically from a source database with the software’s automatic import program (sold separately).

Defect Codes
“Based on a specific UDI, what types of defects or reasons were attributed to the problem?”For each UDI entered, track results from root cause analysis with up to three levels of defect codes based on configurable terminology to define each; Source, Type, Reason. Everest defect codes enable point-and-click selection of multiple reason codes as needed to identify manufacturing, supplier quality, material non-conformances or other sources.

 Reports & Charts
“What type and volume of concerns are associated with the device and how does that compare with related products, different products and the reason codes?”

Standard reports and charts by Product Id or Product Group, plus a chart drill down feature to explore highest frequencies with drill down details for defect source, type and reason codes.

UDI provides an opportunity to improve patient care, increase efficiency and reduce costs. For manufacturers, a configurable database for tracking the UDI will provide the visibility that is essential to maintain high quality standards and superior customer service. The UDI enables early detection of defective devices to ultimately enhance patient safety and reduce medical errors.

For more information about UDI…

Global GS1 Contact and Website
Ulrike Kreysa, Director Healthcare, GS1 Global Office
ulrike.kreysa@gs1.org
GS1 Healthcare website:
http://www.gs1.org/healthcare

FDA
The FDA is taking the lead in the United States for UDI and will shortly begin developing draft regulations to implement requirements. For additional information about the regulations, visit the FDA website
http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/ocd/udi

UDI Conference – October 20-21, 2009 – Orlando, FL
Hilton Bonnet Creek, Orlando, FL
http://www.udiconference.com