How is the quality of patient experience measured?

Patient experience refers to important things that happen to patients from the time they enter a hospital until they leave. Based on their care during their hospital stay, patients were asked to rate the hospital on a scale of zero to ten, with ten being the best care.

Communication with nurses

This measures the percentage of patients who reported that their nurses always explained things clearly, listened carefully to the patient, and treated the patient with courtesy and respect.

Communication with doctors

This measures the percentage of patients who reported that their doctors always explained things clearly, listened carefully to the patient, and treated the patient with courtesy and respect.

Timely assistance from hospital staff

This measures the percentage of patients who reported that they always received help from hospital staff as soon as they wanted. Patients reported how often they were helped quickly when they used the call button or needed help in getting to the bathroom or using a bedpan.

Pain control

This measures the percentage of patients who reported that staff always did everything they could to help patients limit their pain.

Medicines explained

This measures the percentage of patients who reported that hospital staff always told the patient what each medicine was for and what side effects the medicine might have.

Transition to home

The care patients get after leaving the hospital is important to their recovery. Patients were asked whether doctors and nurses talked with them about arranging needed care after leaving the hospital, and whether they received, in writing, information about which symptoms or health problems they should watch out for. This measures the percentage of patients who reported that they were given information about what to do during their recovery at home.

Cleanliness

This measures the percentage of patients who reported that their hospital room and bathroom were 'Always' clean.

Quiet at night

This measures the percentage of patients who reported that the area around their hospital room was always quiet at night.

Rate hospital 9 or 10

This is the percentage of patients who would rate the hospital a 9 or 10 on a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest.

Would recommend hospital

Patients were asked whether they would recommend this hospital to friends and family. The higher the percentage, the more likely patients would recommend the hospital.

 

How are patients sampled for the HCAHPS survey?

The HCAHPS sampling protocol is designed to capture uniform information on hospital care from the patient’s perspective. HCAHPS scores are designed to reflect the care received by patients of all payer types, not just Medicare beneficiaries. Therefore, patients of all payer types are eligible for sampling.

The basic sampling procedure for HCAHPS is the drawing of a random sample of eligible discharges on a monthly basis. Smaller hospitals should survey all HCAHPS-eligible discharges.

Data are collected from patients throughout each month of the 12-month reporting period. Data are then aggregated, on a quarterly basis, to create a rolling 4-quarter data file for each hospital. The most recent four quarters of data are used for public reporting. To ensure comparability, hospitals may not switch type of sampling, mode of survey administration, or survey vendor within a calendar quarter.