“ We believe we have become one of the leading institutions in the world in developing ... a heart team that delivers to you , your family , your parents , your siblings , your kids — and everybody — the right treatment outcome for you .”
— David Brown , M . D ., Founding Physician , The heart Hospital Baylor Plano
THHBP has been recognized 29 times by Press Ganey ® Associates , Inc ., the national authority on patient satisfaction . The hospital has also earned Press Ganey ’ s Guardian of Excellence ® Award for Patient Experience , based on inpatient and emergency department scores , multiple times , as well as the Pinnacle of Excellence Award .
How does this happen in a decade ? While there wasn ’ t a formula , there were some key philo-sophies that its founders agreed were integral .
Quality
One goal has driven — and continues to drive — virtually every decision THHBP ’ s leaders have made : quality wins . This applies whether it ’ s clinical outcomes , research , innovation or the patient experience .
“ If we are meticulously vigilant about our quality outcomes , our reputation will continue to expand and remain at the highest level ,” said Mark A . Valentine , president of The Heart Hospital Baylor Plano and The Heart Hospital Baylor Denton *. “ We have more than 1,000 employees and medical staff members who work at The Heart Hospitals , all of whom are focused on our commitment to quality outcomes .”
Mark was recruited to join THHBP while he was serving as the regional vice president of Cardiovascular Medicine for Cleveland Clinic . He was hired “ before the shovel was in the ground ,” the leaders of the hospital like to say .
“ I was pretty excited to see the vision of what Dr . Brown and others wanted to see happen at this facility , and we have been on a rapid growth trajectory for more than 10 years ,” Mark recalled .
Inclusion and Unity of Focus
Another cornerstone of quality at THHBP is a team approach to addressing complex cardiovascular conditions . Every patient case is looked at through multiple lenses to determine a comprehensive treatment plan .
“ This is a Heart Hospital ,” Dr . Brown said . “ It is a department of one . We don ’ t have a surgical department , a cardiology department , an anesthesia
10 department , an internal medicine department . It ’ s a department of one that delivers care .”
This means that a single patient may have his or her case reviewed by multiple specialists on the medical staff , including cardiovascular surgeons , vascular surgeons , interventional cardiologists , noninvasive cardiologists , electrophysiologists and cardiac imaging specialists . The close working relationship among these specialties helps promote the right treatment plan for patients with complex heart disease .
“ A crucial element of our success has been inclusivity in building a heart team ,” said Dr . Brown . “ We believe that we have become one of the leading institutions in the world in developing this open-ended approach for a heart team that delivers to you , your family , your parents , your siblings , your kids — everybody — the right treatment outcome for you .”
“ It ’ s all one team ,” Dr . Mack said . “ That was a very unique concept when we started this 10 years ago .”