Film Gecko

Hospital Giving Away Movie Tickets

by Leora Israel Zellman on March 21st, 2006

I was excited last week when my husband brought home Cheerios that had free movie tickets in the box, but this is even cooler!  It’s really strange for me, a Canadian usedto free medical services to think of a hospital trying to be competitive justlike a pizza place, but it’s still neat:

A hospital is promising emergency room patients they’ll be seen by a doctor in 30 minutes or less - or else receive an apology and free movie tickets.

Shortening emergency room waiting times is part of ahospital-wide initiative aimed at improving patient care, said PamHash, administrative director of emergency services at the newlyopened St. Francis Medical Center. The free movie tickets were themarketing department’s idea.

“One of the big dissatisfiers for patients is the wait timethey spend in the emergency department,” Hash said.

Other hospitals around the country have offered 30-minuteguarantees to make themselves competitive. If the wait times areexceeded, patients are compensated with everything from restaurantgift certificates to free medical care.

There are exceptions to St. Francis’ 30-minute guarantee, such as when the emergency department has multiple critical-care patients or is so crowded that ambulances are being diverted to other hospitals. via ABClocal

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