Using beepers to keep family members involved in the patient's care

The 1994 Veterans Health Administration (VHA) National Customer Feedback Survey of 43,594 recently discharged inpatients revealed that problems relating to emotional support were reported two to three more frequently by VHA patients than by patients in the private sector. The scores related to emotional support that were reported by 130 Oklahoma City Veterans Affairs Medical Center surgery respondents were the facility's least favorable scores in benchmark comparisons with all VHA surgery patients and with surgery patients at Picker Institute, a nonprofit, private sector research and education organization. These scores prompted the initiation of a successful program to loan radio and digital beepers to patients' family members.