Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS)
The intent of the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) initiative is to provide a standardized survey instrument and data collection methodology for measuring patients’ perspectives on hospital care. While many hospitals have collected information on patient satisfaction, prior to HCAHPS there was no national standard for collecting or publicly reporting patients’ perspectives of care information that would enable valid comparisons to be made across all hospitals. In order to make “apples to apples” comparisons to support consumer choice, it was necessary to introduce a standard measurement approach: the HCAHPS survey. HCAHPS is a core set of questions that can be combined with a broader, customized set of hospital-specific items. HCAHPS survey items complement the data hospitals currently collect to support improvements in internal customer services and quality related activities.
The HCAHPS survey contains 21 patient perspectives on care and patient rating items that encompass nine key topics:
Communication with Doctors
Communication with Nurses
Responsiveness of Hospital Staff
Pain Management
Communication About Medicines
Discharge Information
Cleanliness of Hospital Environment
Quietness of the Hospital Environment
Care Transition
Approved HCAHPS Vendors
Provides information on the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) including the benefits and challenges to implementing a HCAHPS survey process with small rural hospitals, specifically critical access hospitals (CAHs). Identifies vendors to guide small rural hospital and CAH vendor selection of this important, patient-centered survey process.