CareArc CEO Renee Hively was very pleased with the overwhelmingly positive feedback from CareArc patients in a recent review but noted some areas that need improvement.
During the CareArc Board of Directors meeting Tuesday, Hively noted the annual satisfaction survey reflected a 90-95 percent satisfaction level from the majority of CareArc patients. With that said, Hively noted there were a few areas that caught her attention for the wrong reason, however, they thankfully did not have much to do with personnel interactions, rather it was the use of the health center’s after-hours advice number.
Hively says usage of the after-hours tool was rather low and she believes this may have to do with patients either not knowing the number or where to find it.
Another area needing improvement in Hively’s opinion is same-day and next-day emergency appointment scheduling. Hively says this is more of an issue of timing, specifically in the dental clinic, noting the clinic’s schedule fills up very quickly and is normally booked out six weeks at a time.
She says this can make it difficult to schedule last-minute appointments even when there are cancellations as those can often happen at the very last minute. With that in mind, Hively says she would like to see additional policies and processes developed to help increase communication for both patients and providers alike.
In other business Tuesday, board members received the annual sliding fee scale and federal poverty guidelines updates. The only notable change there, according to Chief Financial Officer Seresa Howe, is the allowance for a single-person household increased to $590.
In terms of finances, the month of December saw a net gain of $163,000 for the health center against a budgeted net loss of $57,000. Revenues for the month were 10 percent more favorable to budget at $966,000 and expenses were 14 percent under budget at $803,000.
Year-to-date the health center has a net gain of more than $1.2 million.
The CareArc Board of Directors will next convene for their regular meeting on Tuesday, February 25 at noon inside the CareArc main building.
