I'm so hyper-critical of anything that involves customer service, but in particular when it comes…read moreto patient care! Those of you that know me will understand that.
I was absolutely astounded by the excellent care of this ambulatory surgery center. It is only a few miles from my home -no more having to travel into Austin or even Round Rock!
I received a call from them a few days prior and they left a detailed message requesting I return the call if I had any questions whatsoever about the prep or my procedures themselves. I did not have to call them back as I did not have any questions since my gastroenterologist gave me an abundance of written directions, both in paper, and on My Chart .
CPSC continued to offer me support by sending me reminders where I could reply with an automated alpha reply -so they would know that I had received the information and was confirming that I understood it .
Sometimes I feel like this is over done but in this situation because my physician has her own unique processes I really appreciated the support
The day of the procedure, I actually arrived a few minutes before my scheduled arrival time. Although I had completed a small novel of paperwork for them online, including a history and physical, there were still some other paperwork that had to be signed.
Basically a Surgery consent form, and then the HIPAA forms . I immediately noticed that they had done away with the paper affiliated with these required signatures! They actually had sealed the forms in clear plastic, and then gave me a marker style pen to do the initialing, the signing, and the dating. That way they could just scan in the information and erase it so that when the next patient came along, they could use the same form. Ingenious.!! in fact, anyone concerned with saving the environment and paper i.e.; trees should consider this for any volume of paperwork. Healthcare is not the only area they could benefit from this!
All this before I even went back into the patient care area! I was called back a few minutes beyond my scheduled time by a very kind and efficient RN, who requested I do the things necessary to prepare myself. She then started an IV & all the while we chatted, which made me very comfortable. She went out to reception and got the hubby so that he could sit with me waiting on the actual time to go into the Surgery Suite. After he was seated, she proceeded to review the process so that he would know from beginning to end what to expect, and I would as well....after she left my cubicle, I realized that I was pretty nauseous so we asked if I could have something for that& within two minutes, she was back in with me giving me anti-nausea medicine through my IV. It absolutely helped. I have never had such a speedy service when asking for a medication in an inpatient or outpatient environment. Usually there are so many hoops that people have to jump through but Cedar Park Surgical Center has their ducks in a row for sure. Over the next few minutes, I was visited by the Anesthesiologist, the Certified Registered Nurse, Anesthetist, the RN that would be with me in surgery and Dr Nandy. I'm not going to bore you with all the details but, again, some thing I felt was above and beyond --the nurse and the nurse anesthetist stood on either side of me, reassuring me that everything would be fine that everything would go OK, and that they would take good care of me while I went to sleep. I've heard of these techniques because they really do make a difference for the patient encouraging a positive experience. When I woke up an hour later, I was in recovery and the recovery room, nurse introduced herself to me and immediately offered to elevate my head and get me something to drink. I really appreciated this as I was determined to get alert enough to go home as soon as possible. About 30 minutes later, Carmen came in with some paperwork, and explained what the doctor had written related to my procedures, then she offered to assist me in getting dressed, which I would be doing while in my bed, to decrease the risk of falling. When I felt ready, she had me dangle my legs to ensure my steadiness and had a wheelchair locked and ready for me to sit in and be wheeled outside. Hubby had the car waiting in the patient pick up area as pre-instructed.
THIS WAS MY MOST-INCREDIBLY POSITIVE EXPERIENCE IN AN OUTPT OR INPT SETTING THAT I HAVE EVER HAD!!!
I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the facility along with the team and I hope if I ever have to have something in the future that I can go back there, they treat their patients like GOLD!