A live webinar on February 9 launched MHVC’s Provider/Staff Capacity Survey, designed by MHVC’s Cultural Competency/Health Literacy (CCHL) Workgroup. According to Joan Chaya, MHVC Director, Workforce Development and Management, “The results will be used to provide partners with data needed to accomplish the goals associated with building an integrated delivery system and fostering a culturally competent and engaged staff. We have heard many stories about how patients’ encounters with non-clinicians matter. To be most valuable, we hope that all staff who work with patients and the public in any capacity will participate.”

Patient-facing staff have multiple opportunities to impact patient experience. Non-clinicians and volunteers often provide key information to keep patients engaged and they can help accomplish an organization’s mission, sometimes in innovative ways. “All staff reflect the culture of an organization,” said Chaya. “Since the quality of care hinges on staff performance, we believe that joy in work is the foundation for sustainable change.”

“An anonymous link was sent to each partner so they can send it out internally to their staff,” said Jasmine Cruz, MHVC Senior Human Resources Specialist. “To make it as convenient as possible, the survey took only 15-20 minutes to complete on any device.” To induce participation, those who completed the survey could provide email addresses to be eligible for a $50 gift card raffle.

The lessons learned will immediately help organizations develop quality projects. The results can also be used to measure progress towards shared outcomes and for quality project metrics. The survey was first administered two years ago, and then redesigned with assistance from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and with input from the CC/HL Workgroup; the new survey was also sent to MHVC Innovation Fund grant recipients and new partners. The revised survey added new domains around joy in work and provider burnout to reflect the emphasis on these areas by MHVC.

Einstein will be doing the data collection and analysis of the responses; reporting will be by organization as well as against the anonymous aggregate results. Analyses will be sent to organizations soon and results will be summarized in a future MHVC Newsletter. If you have questions about the survey, please contact Jasmine Cruz at jascruz@montefiore.org.