H-CAHPS
Patient satisfaction survey data collection
and analysis for Hospitals
Hospitals
CAHPS FAQ:
- Other
questions? Our marketing research experts will be
happy to answer them. Call us at
888.420.8884 or
fill out our contact
form
and we will contact you.
What
is HCAHPS?
HCAHPS
is a standardized survey of the experiences of adult
inpatients with hospital care and services. Hospitals
across the country are using this survey and reporting
data to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
(CMS).
Top
of Page
How
is the HCAHPS survey constructed and conducted: instrument
and method?
Structure
of HCAHPS survey:
- 27
questions total including perspectives
on seven key topics
-
communication with doctors
- communication
with nurses
- responsiveness
of hospital staff
- cleanliness
and quietness of hospital environment
- pain
management
- communication
about medicines
- discharge
information
- four
approved modes of administration
- Mail
Only - Recomended by Alexandria
- Telephone
Only
- Mixed
(mail followed by telephone)
- Active
Interactive Voice Response (IVR)
"[In
the second quarter for 2008], 72.6% of the publicly
reported hospitals employed the mail mode, 26.6% used
the telephone mode, and 0.7% used mixed or IVR modes.
In addition, 97.5% of hospitals used a survey vendor
(including multi-site hospitals), while 2.5% self-administered
the HCAHPS survey."
Source:
(HCAHPS Executive Insight, September 2009. hcahpsonline.org.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Baltimore,
MD. November, 25, 2009.
http://www.hcahpsonline.org/Executive_Insight/
We
recommend and provide the "Mail Only" mode
of the HCAHPS survey, because it:
- offers
convenience for the patients to respond;
- provides
patients with time to think about how to respond;
-
is less intimidating and more anonymous and we believe
it gives unbiased data.
Recommendation:
Although CAHPS permits additional questions
to be added to the HCAHPS survey our suggestion is
to keep these to a minimum or add no additional questions
mainly because a longer survey tends to have an adverse
affect on the response rate.
Top
of Page
What
are the features of the HCAHPS survey?
- produces
comparable data on the patient's perspective on
care
- enables
objective and meaningful comparisons between hospitals
-
leads to public reporting of the survey results
- provides
incentives for hospitals to improve their quality
of care
- enhances
public accountability in health care by increasing
the transparency of the quality of hospital care
- is
a credible, useful, and practical survey
Top
of Page
Where
do the of Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
publicly report the benchmarking on HCAHPS survey
results?
Hospital-level
results are publicly reported on the Hospital
Compare Web site, which is also available
through a link at the Medicare
website. Benchmarking
Data Available is a report that provides
summary level survey results for hospitals that have
fielded the survey and submitted their data to the
CAHPS Database for this analysis. This report aggregates
the results for hospitals by selected characteristics
(e.g., bed size, region, teaching status).
Top
of Page
What
are the the consequences for our Hospital if we do
not participate in the HCAHPS survey initiative?
IPPS
hospitals participating in the Reporting
Hospital Quality Data Annual Payment Update program
(RHQDAPU) that fail to report the required quality
measures (which include the HCAHPS patient perspective
survey) could, for FY 2008, receive an APU that is
reduced by 2.0 percentage points. Non-IPPS
hospitals can voluntarily participate in
HCAHPS. To view the display copy of the Acute Inpatient
PPS final rule (CMS-1533-FC) for FY 2008, go to the
CMS
website.
Top
of Page
What
should our hospital concider about HCAHPS surveys?
Would
you like professionals to perform your HCAHPS Survey
Data Collection and Analysis?
Alexandria
Marketing Research Group provides a link between proven
theory and practical application of strategic, tactical,
and operational research tools.
- Are
you receiving prompt quarterly and annual reports
about your service quality?
- Have
your HCAHPS reports been helping you improve your
quality?
- Are
the reports interactive and do they allow you to
use them effectively during management presentations
and discussions?
- Have
you achieved high enough response rate? In order
to report your findings and improvement to the community,
you need to receive at least 100 responses per year.
- Do
you have a vendor partner that helps you succeed?
Top
of Page
What
are the benefits of using Alexandria Marketing Research
Group to administer HCAHPS surveys?
Our
valuable information analysis and methods allow you
to:
- Manage
your business more effectively, improve your service
quality and operations, attain competitive advantage,
and be a winner;
- Better
understand and communicate with your employees,
your patients, and your market;
-
Receive valuable and presentable information analysis
in frequent interactive analytical reports in PowerPoint
presentations;
-
Have your information presentable and easy to use
at meetings, presentations, and discussions;
-
Achieve between 25% and 40% response rate to be
able to report your services’ quality levels
to the community;
-
Save time and resources from reducing the internal
departments’ workload on data processing;
-
Receive competitive quality service with our competitive
price, security, and long term commitment;
-
Improve your organization: achieve and hold high
quality standards.
Let
us help you improve your service
and operations quality through H-CAHPS survey data
collection and analysis. For
more information about Alexandria or to receive a
quote contact us.
We will come to your door when you need us for a presentation
or a consultation.
Top
of Page
Further
Resources!
Top
of Page
Sourses:
cahps.ahrq.gov.
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. June16,
2008.
hcahpsonline.org.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Baltimore,
MD. June16, 2008.