Huron Regional Medical Center

2 wellone CONNECTION www.huronregional.org From the CEO David Dick President and CEO Huron Regional Medical Center David Dick Please Pick Up the Phone – It's Good for Us All Happy, Healthy Holidays this holiday season, you can eat smart and still enjoy yourself. THANKSGIVING AND OTHER family gatherings throughout the holidays often come with meals that leave us feeling over-stuffed and sluggish, but it doesn't have to be that way. Get Involved If you help plan the gatherings you attend, or if you supply dishes, you can ensure there will be healthy options on the table. Choose nutritious and delicious options like a bold, colorful salad or roasted Brussels sprouts. Eat Mindfully Use a smaller plate to help keep your portions small. Eat slowly to allow your brain time to keep up with how full your stomach is. Don't snack when you're bored, and when you do need to snack, choose something like vegetables and low-calorie dip, or an apple with peanut butter. Think Colorfully When building your plate at a party, choose fresh fare in a variety of colors first. You'll have less room for the heavier, traditional comfort foods, but all it takes is a taste to satisfy your craving – you don't have to avoid your favorites entirely! ■ Nutrition counseling is available through HRMC's registered dietitian. Call (605) 353-6585 to learn more or visit www.huronregional.org. HURON REGIONAL MEDICAL Center is a community-owned, rural healthcare system. We are governed by a local board of directors who represent our community – they are your friends and neighbors. What our patients think, say and feel about their treatment is the best gift we can receive. That feedback, as well as various other community listening tools, is how we improve and how we meet and manage the many challenges and changes in the way health care is delivered. In other words, HRMC finds great value in hearing from you. We've recently changed the way we hear from inpatients by partnering with a company called HealthStream, which contacts our patients after an overnight visit with a personal telephone call to ask questions about their experience. In this age of telemarketers, we want to provide information about the number and name of this company before you leave so you know who is calling. Our phone survey questions follow the HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) survey, which was designed by the federal government to help people make decisions about their health care. The goal is to give an "apples-to-apples" comparison of information that is important when selecting a healthcare provider. Because we are a critical access hospital, HRMC is not yet required to participate in HCAHPS, but we do find value in learning how we compare to other hospitals our size and sharing ideas on how we can all improve. It's a systemized approach to seeing patients' perception of care. The answers you provide help to shine a light, if you will, on what it feels like to be a patient in our hospital. Since switching to a phone survey from a mail survey, I've heard from a few people who were concerned about the time required to answer the survey questions. I can certainly appreciate that 10-15 minutes on the phone in our busy, busy days can be a challenge. However, I can assure you that the time spent sharing your thoughts is very helpful to your community hospital. The next time you have an overnight stay at HRMC, I hope you'll share with us your opinion on how we provided that care. In fact, I hope you don't wait for a call but let us know while you are here what we can do to best serve your individual needs. And, when that phone does ring after your visit, I hope you'll pick up the call – we promise not to sell you anything! Your Opinion Matters! HealthStream will call you from: 1-615-846-8410 – HealthStream

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