|Articles|November 12, 2016

How patients benefit when we move beyond HCAHPS

As is often the case in healthcare and business, no one single tool provides sufficient information to create sustainable solutions for a challenge at hand. And so it goes with the HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) survey.

William Maples, MDAs is often the case in healthcare and business, no one single tool provides sufficient information to create sustainable solutions for a challenge at hand. And so it goes with the HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) survey.

 

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Due to the financial rewards or penalties associated with HCAHPS, we have equated patient experience with HCAHPS and have moved away from richer assessments of how patients experience the care we provide.

Measuring true patient experience is more complex than what is measured in the survey. To fully understand the patient experience, metrics must include assessment of teamwork, communication, and the relationships/connections between caregivers and patients. The quality of these relationships creates the environment/culture of the workplace, which is intimately linked to the ability to deliver safe, quality, and efficient care.

 

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Although HCAHPS does not measure the patient experience in its entirety, it does measure aspects of care such as pain management, responsiveness of hospital staff, discharge information, etc. The critical elements, which are not assessed in the HCAHPS survey, include teamwork and the compassionate connection between patients and caregivers. This results in the absence of essential information providers and healthcare organizations need to develop meaningful solutions aimed at enriching the environment/culture in which care is delivered.

Defining a True Patient Experience

By focusing on patient experience, one also focuses on the value of care provided to patients. The safest, highest quality, and most efficient care is achieved when patient experience levels are high. It is important to appreciate this intimate connection.

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