A new study reveals exactly how some hospitals create a positive place that patients appreciate -- reward employees with cash, and give patients the home phone number of the hospital's CEO.

A new report examines the attributes of 34 community hospitals that have earned the Health Care Sector Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, a nationally recognized quality benchmark. The findings suggest that the single-biggest factor in patient satisfaction is hospital employee morale.

Community hospitals which had the happiest patients and caregivers, departed radically from traditional hospital management. At the Florida hospital where patients receive a welcome letter with the CEO's signature and home phone number, they're also paid a visit by their unit's nurse manager, who also leaves cell and office phone numbers.

The 34 hospitals emphasized a broadly communicated mission, a supportive learning culture, universal measurement and benchmarking, and systematic process improvement.