St. Luke’s Hospital in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania was recently featured in an article in the local paper, The Morning Call. The article reads, “St. Luke's Hospital is so confident in its surgeons' ability to perform successful robotic prostate surgery that the hospital is taking the unusual step of offering a limited money-back guarantee. Under the guarantee, patients and their insurance companies will not be billed if complications from robotic prostate surgery arise within 30 days.”

This is the kind of patient-centered service all hospitals should consider offering to some degree. All healthcare outcomes can’t be guaranteed – and, just like any other guarantee, this one comes with its fine print and limitations. But the point here is that this is a revolutionary step for healthcare providers. And, certainly a positive step for patients – especially patients of St. Luke’s Hospital and others like it. Although it appears that St. Luke’s is the only hospital currently offering this kind of guarantee, chances are other patient-centered hospitals will follow suit.

On a personal note, my father recently had surgery at St. Luke’s Hospital. The care and treatment was superior – based on experiences we have had at other hospitals. Besides the excellent bedside manner from the surgeon and all of the nursing staff, my father’s outcomes were good. Check out a few of the perks: no limitations on visiting hours; you can order food at any time and get it within a short time; a beverage cart team that comes to patient’s door a few times a day and offers beverages to the patient and his visitors; coupons for a percentage off any food purchased by the patient’s family in the cafeteria or hospital restaurant. But in all honesty, the best feature of this organization is its people. I felt like they were trained by the same people who train the staff at the Ritz Carlton – plus these folks were all clinical or operational healthcare experts. This is what we should expect – and get – in our healthcare every day. Good service, good people, good outcomes – all put the patient in a good mood. And, it all adds up to the true definition of high quality healthcare. Thanks St. Luke’s.