Meeting Demand for Pelvic Wellness

Abstract

The purpose of the Center for Pelvic Wellness program is to provide pelvic health and wellness to the community. Increase awareness and address the community’s need for pelvic health. Services available include a comprehensive examination, education, fluid and dietary management, pelvic floor physical therapy, rehabilitative ultrasound, and laser therapy. Women who need more advanced care are referred to specialists who coordinate care through the center to offer pelvic support devices (pessaries), medications, neural stimulation, specialized office procedures or testing, and surgical intervention when necessary. The center offers offsite community outreach programs and nurse navigators. A critical factor in the early success of the Center for Pelvic Wellness at Princeton Medical Center was the support from the community. The Princeton Medical Center Foundation raised more than $290,000 to benefit the center. Another factor in the implementation of the center was the commitment from executive administrative leaders, who identified pelvic wellness as a strategic priority for the organization. Measurement tools for our success outcomes are still being evaluated. We are implementing and validating questionnaires that will measure women’s perception of their success rate with pelvic floor physical therapy. The center uses Press Ganey scores to measure patient satisfaction. A unique attribute to the Center for Pelvic Wellness is the interdisciplinary support system that the nurse navigators provide. All new patients are screened by a navigator via a health history intake and a discussion on the patient’s current pelvic health concerns. The nurse navigator then refers the patient to a community wellness class, pelvic floor physical therapy, urogynecologists, or other physician specialists on the basis of clinical judgement and knowledge. The nurse navigator follows women through their treatment and works directly with their physicians and health care team to ensure an exceptional experience.