HCAHPS Frequently Asked Questions
Q. What is HCAHPS?
A. HCAHPS, which stands for Hospital Consumer Assessment of Health Providers and Systems, is a government survey for measuring patient satisfaction at hospitals across the country. The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) are sponsoring the survey. Both agencies are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The categories focus on communication with doctors and nurses, responsiveness of hospital staff, pain management, cleanliness and quietness of the hospital environment, and instructions about medications and discharge. This information has been publicly available via the Hospital Quality Alliance Web site (medicare.gov/care-compare) since late March 2008.
Q. How does HCAPHS work?
A. Hospitals provide a statistically valid sample of inpatients (those over 18 years of age who are not receiving psychiatry, rehabilitation and skilled nursing services) with a survey of 27 questions and other items relating to how often the patient perceived something to have occurred - usually on a scale of always, usually, sometimes and never - and how well the hospital met their needs. For example, patients are asked how often the doctors explained things in a way they could understand and how often their room and bathroom were kept clean. The results represent the percentage of patients who responded with "always." The survey also measures patients' overall rating of the hospital (on a scale of 0 to 10) and their willingness to recommend it. After adjusting certain factors, the government bundles patients' responses into 10 categories and calculates composite scores.
Q. Why is this survey necessary?
A. HCAHPS provides a national standard for collecting and publicly reporting information about patients' perspectives on hospital care. Since everyone must use the same survey, the HCAHPS data offers the consumer an "apples-to-apples" comparison of hospitals.
Eventually, CMS intends to use the HCAHPS patient experience data to determine the level of funds it will reimburse hospitals for services they provide to their Medicare patients. Generally, hospitals having better clinical and patient satisfaction results will receive a higher reimbursement.
Q. How does Porter Health System survey its patients?
A. The Hospital randomly selects inpatients and HealthStream, a research company calls them to administer a patient satisfaction survey within a few days of their discharge. The survey combines the 27 standardized HCAHPS questions and other questions, specifically tailored to Hopkins about their hospital stay. The HCAHPS responses are forwarded to the government, and HealthStream calculates their responses as an additional measurement tool for Porter.
Q. How is HCAHPS different from other surveys?
A. The primary difference is the rating scale. Many surveys use a rating scale of very good, good, fair, poor and very poor. The HCAHPS measures how often patients perceived an aspect of their care was performed, generally using a scale of always, usually, sometimes, and never.
Q. How does Porter Health System compare with other hospitals in the area?
A. A comparison of hospitals may be found at www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov, the Web site of the Hospital Quality Alliance. HQA is a national public-private collaboration of the American Hospital Association, Federation of American Hospitals, Association of Medical Colleges and other consumer, health care and government organizations created to encourage hospitals to voluntarily collect and report quality performance information.
Q. What is Porter Health System doing to improve patient care?
A. To reinforce our commitment to quality patient care, we've added sessions to new employee orientation that focus solely on service excellence. Employees' job descriptions include our service standards of excellence. On the clinical side, the Health System is reinforcing its culture of medical excellence and patient centered care. This includes nurses rounding on their patients at least hourly, easing patient anxiety by clearly explaining procedures, and medications, while taking the time to answer questions. We've also introduced hospitalists who are physicians who specialize in in-hospital care and are available on site 24/7.
Q. Where can I get more information about HCAHPS?
A. To view hospitals' data, you may visit http://www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov.