The Medical City bags two awards for its main facility and excellent customer service

The hospital group won Customer Service Initiative of the Year and Hospital of the Year at the Healthcare Asia Awards.

The Medical City (TMC) main hospital, TMC Ortigas, had a record-breaking revenue close to $168m (Php6b) for 2019. The remarkable improvement can be attributed to new leadership and the established programs in 2019 that addressed improved patient care delivery and staff development.

TMC went home with two awards for the Philippines at this year’s Healthcare Asia Awards, in a creative format that was safe and secure for everyone involved amidst the dire state of affairs due to the global pandemic.

Winning Customer Service Initiative of the Year, TMC rolled out the Red Coat Ambassadors Program in April 2019 to gain action in improving patient experience, physician and employee engagement, and volunteerism.

Stationed at the vantage points and main diagnostic units, Red Coat ambassadors are specially trained staff and retirees-turned volunteers who assist patients and guests with navigation, information, and non-medical care. They also help improve patient experience by mediating with the Customer Relations Department.

Currently there are six Red Coat staff and five volunteers who assist patients and hospital guests with a personalised touch.

“The Red Coat Program is different because we are not just making our customers happy; we are making our employees happy as well. This is exactly what we are after, how to change the culture of the hospital. It becomes a happy hospital, a place for happy people,” said Dr. Eugenio Jose F. Ramos, President and CEO, The Medical City.

 Because of this program, TMC posted increased patient satisfaction, less patient complaints, and a positive boost with its reputation as a healthcare leader. The program extends to all TMC hospitals in the Philippines and in Guam Regional Medical City. It was already launched in TMC Iloilo in October 2019. TMC South Luzon and TMC Clark launched their version of the Red Coat program in March 2020 and in Pangasinan and Guam by the second quarter.

Aside from snagging the Customer Service Initiative of the Year, TMC nabbed the Hospital of the Year award not only for excellent results brought by increased revenue but also positive patient outcomes.

The Medical City’s medical achievements not only include a remarkable 97% success rate for bone marrow transplants and a high 90% survival rate for 2019 but also successful liver transplant operations totalling 19 (amongst global best) with 81% one-year survival rate since 2016, making it the leader in the management of end-stage liver disease and liver transplantation in the Philippines.

Patient census in high-value procedures such as cancer treatment, cardiovascular care, and minimally invasive surgery also contributed to the growth, according to Dr. Ramos.

TMC acquired advanced technologies to help customise care and treatment for patients at TMC Cancer Institute. Acquisitions by the radiology department also improved the imaging and laboratory services which contributed to significant growth.

Customer’s overall satisfaction and net promoter scores for inpatients also showed significant improvement.

The turnaround and the improvements in performance are all the more striking considering the shareholder difficulties that faced TMC in 2018 when the previous board refused to hold elections even after their terms expired. The resulting changes implemented by its current leadership focused on TMC’s transformation to innovation-driven business growth and brought about a change in culture that empowered teamwork and respect for new ideas and new ways of doing things.

“We started developing our people to focus on things that are important, and streamlining and integrating a lot of positions. There’s a need for more interactions and less emphasis on positions,” said Dr. Ramos, referring to TMC’s matrix organization that encouraged more active communication and assured faster turn-around time in resolving issues and decisions on matters especially that concern service delivery.

Watch the interview below to know more about their winning strategy:

The Healthcare Asia Awards 2020 was held virtually on 14-17 April 2020.

This year's nominations were judged by Chris Hardesty, Director, Healthcare & Life Sciences Practice, KPMG; Abhay Bangi, Partner, Life Sciences & Healthcare Lead, Ernst & Young; Tan Boon Kai, Partner, Audit & Assurance, BDO LLP; Mairin Reid, Director, Life Sciences & Healthcare, Deloitte.

If you would like to join the 2021 awards and be recognised as one of the most outstanding healthcare companies in the region, please email Julie Anne Nuñez at [email protected]