OUR VISION
By using proven, modern and effective treatments, and providing integrated services of superior quality, Metropolitan Hospital aims to continue standing among the most reliable medical units internationally as an equal.
TEMOS
Metropolitan Hospital, an innovator in medical developments, has received yet another distinction. It has become the first hospital in Greece and the fourth worldwide to have been certified for its EXCELLENCE IN MEDICAL TOURISM by TEMOS INTERNATIONAL. This new international distinction corroborates the trust that patients from Greece as well as 81 countries worldwide have shown in Metropolitan's doctors and services.
QUALITY POLICY
Taking into account the expectations of patients and its moral duty towards them, Metropolitan Hospital proclaims that it will provide top-level services, improving them continuously, whenever such a need arises.
The activities of Metropolitan Hospital’s medical, nursing and administrative staff focus on offering modern diagnosis and treatment of diseases; exhibiting a humane approach and proper conduct towards patients; reducing the number of hospitalization days; as well as minimizing all sorts of patient problems.
For this purpose, we have established a Quality Management System, which manages all the required processes, in accordance with the principles of the ISO 9001 international standard. The ever changing competitive European environment can be mastered only by continuously changing and improving the effectiveness of this system.
Therefore, we are constantly setting new objectives in terms of quality in all activities within Metropolitan Hospital. At the same time, we seek the necessary resources that assist in achieving these objectives and increasing our competitiveness in the sector, in terms of the quality of the services we provide.
QUALITY AND SAFETY PROGRAMS
With the aim of continuously improving the healthcare services we offer at Metropolitan Hospital, we implement targeted programs to improve our quality levels and increase safety for our patients. We monitor the performance of these programs through measurements and ratios, which we compare against our own strict standards, and the performance/specifications of internationally recognized organizations.
Patient Satisfaction
A patient’s positive hospitalization experience often leads to better treatment outcomes.
For this reason, the Quality Department monitors patient satisfaction through questionnaires addressed to inpatients and outpatients. Through these questionnaires, patients rate specific parameters of medical, nursing and administrative services, as well as the Metropolitan Hospital facilities. Processing these questionnaires helps us understand the expectations of our patients and the extent of our response to them. Our patients’ views raise our awareness for improving our services.
Our patients’ views
"My endless thanks to my doctor who cured me (a model doctor and human being), to all the doctors (all of them demonstrated concern and interest), to the nurses who, apart from trained, were also marked by humanity, immediate response, patience and willingness to make the patient feel relaxed. Well done! Keep up the good work, thank you!”
“We were extremely satisfied with our doctors. They showed us love and were extremely helpful. The nursing staff were also very polite and helpful. The overall image of Metropolitan is excellent. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts."
"A big thank you to the (medical and nursing) staff who, with their excellent scientific training and their smile, helped in restoring my son’s health, who was hospitalized in the Pediatric Department with lymphoma."
"An outstanding treatment in all accounts!"
"Please continue trying to help people and ease their pain."
INFECTION CONTROL PROGRAM
Central Line-Associated Infections
During hospitalization, patients are likely to suffer from some type of hospital acquired infection. The most frequent cause of hospital acquired blood infections are infections associated with central venous catheters. Central venous catheters are widely used in a hospital setting, as they allow infusion of pharmaceuticals, parenteral nutrition and blood derivatives that cannot be administered through small peripheral veins. Such infections are preventable when central venous catheters are placed and cared for properly. For these reasons, since 2013 we have been applying a series of targeted measures to eliminate the risk of infection and we monitor their performance for all patients who carry a central catheter. To date, our program results have been directly comparable to the ones from leading hospitals in the USA and Europe.
Hand Hygiene
Proper hand hygiene – i.e. washing and/or applying antiseptic solution – is the most effective way to limit the spread of infectious diseases.
To prevent the transmission of infections in a hospital setting, health professionals must practice hand hygiene before and after caring for every patient, whereas patients and their carers will also need to follow the proper hand hygiene rules.
We have installed special hand sanitizers in every room at Metropolitan Hospital and we implement an intensive training program, aided by infectious disease specialists and the nursing staff, in order to ensure that the hands of staff, patients and their families remain clean and safe. To further ensure the proper implementation of the program, the Hospital Infection Control Committee has trained some of their officers in monitoring the staff during work. These officers monitor the doctors, nurses and other health professionals who come into contact with patients and record their compliance with the requirement to apply antiseptic before and after coming into contact with the patient. These recordings are used to compute compliance indicators analyzed by the Hospital Infection Control Committee, in order to take the necessary targeted actions for the continuous improvement of the Hand Hygiene Program.
Antibiotic Stewardship Program
Since the beginning of the last century, antibiotics have transformed the practice of medicine, making lethal infections treatable and providing the protective framework for advanced treatments, such as cancer chemotherapy and organ transplants. The proper use of antibiotics for the treatment of infections saves lives; however, a large percentage of the total allocated antibiotics treatments are either unnecessary or inappropriate. Patients taking antibiotics without reason run the risk of serious side effects, ranging from allergic or other reactions to aggressively resistant infections and pathogens (e.g. Clostridium difficile), without any clinical benefits. The overuse of antibiotics has led to the development of microorganisms resistant to antibiotics, which are probably the greatest emerging threat to public health.
Metropolitan Hospital runs an Antibiotic Stewardship Program to optimize their proper use. This program aims to ensure proper prescription of antibiotics to treat infections and reduce side effects and unnecessary use of antibiotics. In its three years of operation, the program has achieved a significant reduction in observed antimicrobial resistance rates at Metropolitan and an almost zero rate of Clostridium difficile infections, even in chronically ill patients.
Participation in the Pan-European Prevalence Study of Infections
Since 2013, Metropolitan Hospital has been successfully implementing the Protocol for Point Registration of Infections of the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) every year. The implementation of the Protocol has helped in collecting quality data on the incidence and type of infections in our patients, allowing the design of targeted actions to reduce the risks involved and provide the most optimal treatment.
Building on the experience gained by our staff during these three years, Metropolitan Hospital participates in the Pan-European study organized by the ECDC for 2016-17, in an effort to contribute to the success of the study with high-fidelity data and to draw useful conclusions about the frequency of infections in Greek and European healthcare provider settings.
PATIENT FALL CONTROL PROGRAM
Patient falls are the leading cause of accidents within a hospital and can lead to superficial or even very serious injuries. A patient fall, even when not accompanied by spinal injuries, can increase the duration and, hence, the cost of hospitalization, as well as extend the recovery time of the patient.
To increase patient safety and prevent hospital falls, we implement a comprehensive patient fall detection and prevention program, which includes:
- Implementing preventive safety measures at our facilities to reduce the most common risk factors for falls (e.g. clean, dry, non-slippery floors, easily accessible call buttons for patients, hospital rooms without obstacles and with adequate lighting, even at night, etc.).
- Evaluating the risk factors for every patient admitted and implementing customized actions to address them.
- Monitoring the development of patient fall frequency and taking targeted actions in departments with the greatest incidence of falls.
As a result of the implementation of the program, the number of patient falls at Metropolitan Hospital is low and the patient falls recorded are of low severity (60% of falls do not result in any injury).
