Case Study

“Repairers went out of their way to make me feel comfortable and confident to walk again.” — Peke Waihanga Artificial Limb Services patient feedback

There were several reasons Peke Waihanga Artificial Limb Services approached Cemplicity to develop a patient driven continuous improvement programme. It was, for instance, important that the surveys would be conducted independently. “We contract Cemplicity to contact our patients on our behalf and Cemplicity then presents Peke Waihanga Artificial Limb Services with anonymous survey results. That protects the individual’s privacy and independence,” says Sean. “And of course, it also means the integrity of the results is maintained.”

However, if patients are not happy, or have an issue that needs addressing, they have the option to ask staff to get in touch through the survey.

“So we can respond, by phone or email, and we’re generally able to address the patients’ concerns.”

For example, a patient asked, “How can I get help in my region?” leaving us with their mobile number enabling a follow-up phone call and referral to a clinic nearby.

It was also important that the Cemplicity platform met the IT requirements that govern data collection for publicly funded health services in New Zealand. Cemplicity’s platform has been used by the Health Quality and Safety Commission in their national programme, the organisation responsible for leading and coordinating improvements in safety and quality in health care in New Zealand.

“So we didn’t have to go through that very time-consuming risk assessment process.”

A final reason for choosing Cemplicity was its willingness to tailor the service to the Peke Waihanga Artificial Limb Services budget. It was clear from the outset of discussions that Cemplicity was committed to contributing to great patient outcomes and prepared to work with clients to ensure the Cemplicity platform was accessible, no matter what the size of the organisation was.

Patient surveys are now conducted within a month of any interaction a patient has with Peke Waihanga Artificial Limb Services, which might be after a patient has been fitted for a new limb, for the repair of an existing one, or for a variety of reasons.

The survey typically takes patients 15 minutes, and patients are asked a number of questions developed by Peke Waihanga Artificial Limb Services. This includes asking patients to rate overall satisfaction with their device — such as whether they’re satisfied with the functionality, look and fit of the artificial limb. There are also questions about the service — such as whether they received a rehabilitation plan and if they were involved in the development of that plan.

Patients are also invited to highlight any particular concerns, or make suggestions about how any aspect of the service could be improved.

These details are important to Peke Waihanga Artificial Limb Services explains Sean; “We have a moral responsibility to regularly benchmark our services, to identify what is going well, and where the opportunities for improvement are. We also have contractual requirements to collect data about how our patients rate their satisfaction with our service.”

“It offers much more than a box-ticking exercise. This programme is informing tactical decision making every day, enabling incremental improvements that are leading to collective improvement across the service.”

Importantly, the feedback captured by Cemplicity delivers insights that can be usefully shared with a range of audiences. This includes funding agencies, such as District Health Boards and the Accident Compensation Corporation.

“We’re able to show our funders that we’re doing a great job, and the funders can use our information in their own KPIs. So, we’re providing them with data that has been independently collected, that demonstrates our value to funders, that allows them to demonstrate their value to their management.”