Best Practices

THOMSON MEDICAL
Overview
In 1979, Thomson Medical Centre (TMC) commenced operations, becoming a healthcare service provider known for their focus in the areas of Obstetrics & Gynaecology and Paediatrics. The birth of TMC centred on one man’s vision: Founder and Executive Chairman, Dr Cheng Wei Chen’s aim to “make delivery an enjoyable experience for women”. TMC is where Life Begins. Carving out a unique identity of providing quality services with a personalized touch in a friendly and cosy ambience, TMC has taken women on the amazing journey of motherhood and embraced the birth of thousands of babies. With an excellent pool of dedicated doctors and nurses, TMC have the expertise to care for and support mothers through the joyous yet complex months of pregnancy and childbirth and continue to encourage them by guiding them on how to care for their babies after childbirth.
Strategy
Mission	Incorporated in TMC’s vision and mission is a strong need to provide for women, children and their families with a suite of services that are unique, relevant, integrated and delivered through the Thomson Touch. Their business strategy is to strengthen the relationships between patients and their families with the fulfillment of their Brand promise and the instilling of I.C.A.R.E core values amongst staff. Celebrating life is their motto. Besides addressing the needs of new mothers, for her growing children, TMC also sets out to provide total healthcare with a holistic approach in health management and support for their spouses and maturing loved-ones, with an aim to have patients experience family-centred care.
Product & Service Mix	TMC focuses on establishing trust and ensuring quality in their service offerings to win hearts of mothers as a hospital of choice. A fully-integrated niche hospital, TMC ensures optimal management of childbirth with the availability of under-one-roof services such as fertility treatment, prenatal diagnostic fetal assessment, genetic and chromosome screening. To make parenthood an extra rewarding experience, TMC provides unique services that include maternity privilege programmes namely First Born Incentives and Subsequent Born Incentives programs, soup-for-mothers programmes, TMC trained confinement nannies, daily hospital tours, in-room shopping and tea sessions. Through the FBI/SBI programmes which are specially designed to create one-stop convenience and provide discounted packages with good medical benefits, patients can obtain preferred rates for TMC services such as professional fees, hospital bills, outpatient visits and ultrasound services. They will also enjoy member privileges from TMC’s partners, carefully handpicked to complement medical benefits. Furthermore, after the baby is born, a patient and her baby will continue to enjoy the privileges of quality healthcare at TMC at preferred rates. TMC also has in place ParentCraft services to prepare parents for parenthood with practical take-home skills to care for their new born. As a family–centric hospital, TMC takes care of the needs of the extended family besides that of the new mothers and babies. Its service offerings include medical health screening, weight management, anti-aging and aesthetic medicine.
Marketing & Promotions	TMC organizes public talks, roadshows, exhibition booth activities and seminars to create awareness and market their services. Through newsletters and articles, they keep customers informed of their services and facilities as well as their promotions with partners. Incentives are given to partners specially handpicked by TMC to participate in the promotion of PFB product and service offerings. They include displaying partners’ products at Continuous Medical Education and Continuous Nursing Education talks and distributing them in goodie bags to patients. TMC participates in community services such as the recent “Child Seats Save Little Lives” campaign co-organised with the Singapore Traffic Police and Volvo Cars. It is also involved as a medical partner for the “Cold Storage Kids Run 2008” to encourage fitness and exercise amongst children. TMC is also an on-going partner with the Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund and works with schools on attachment programmes. To benefit patients and their families, TMC collaborates with partners like AXA and OCBC to package their insurance and savings plans respectively to provide a holistic package of discounted hospital rates along with other needs.
Service
Service Attitude	Staff works towards achieving a trusted brand for TMC. Achievements are established based on wealth of experience of staff and support from a strong base of senior tenant specialists in the hospital. Standards are established at service touchpoints: Patient Service Centre Nurse counters Life Style Centre 24-hours family clinic Retail pharmacy ParentCraft Centre TMC is a fully integrated hospital providing under-one-roof services to ensure optimal management of childbirth. It provides value-added services to substantiate their core services such as: Hospital Tours FBI/SBI Incentive programme Childbirth Education Course Infantcare Training Programme Confinement Nanny Service It also ensures that its staff extend warm welcomes and fond farewells to its patients. A suite of trainings are necessary for all staff i.e. service skills, orientation and Spinnovator trainings are conducted to help staff meet greeting and touch-points standards. TMC solicits valuable feedback from patients and family members through Patient Evaluation Questionnaire forms (PEQ) for improvement. Staff recruitment also emphasizes on service and pro-family aptitudes.
Nurturing service care	Staff are patient, attentive and anticipate family needs to create a warm and familiar environment in the hospital. To encourage lactation, soup-for-moms and visits are made to breastfeeding mothers by lactation consultants. To help caregivers and equip them with proper baby caring skills, TMC provides training for maids and grandparents. TMC also provides training for confinement nannies to ensure they provide proper care and support for mothers and their babies in their homes.
Safety first	TMC installs security surveillance cameras and have on duty adequate car park staff to ensure safety of patients. After 10pm, screening of visitors at the hospital entrance is a must. There are burglar alarms installed for clinics. To create a safe and secure environment for family members, edges of furniture are rounded with tempered glass used for windows. With safety as a key consideration, there is the orientation of patients to rooms at admission, procedures for nurses to assess patients for fall risks, beds equipped with cot-slides and preventive measures for machines and equipment.
Infrastructure
Access & Layout	Signages are strategically placed at the foyer, lift lobbies and along the wards. There are directional signs to handicap toilets and breastfeeding and diaper changing rooms. Staff are briefed, trained and orientated accordingly to SOPs to provide information at service touchpoints.
Facilities	Layout of premises provides easy access and movement to all members of the family. This is substantiated by lifts, escalators and wheelchair lifts. Careful flooring is designed with the use of anti-slip bathroom tiles and carpets along the corridors of wards. Grab bars in toilets and shower rooms help ensure safety of users. Strict housekeeping schedules and close monitoring of cleaning contribute to the proper maintenance of facilities.

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