HCAHPS Hospital Survey

HCAHPS Hospital Survey





Current News

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• URGENT: July 1, 2015 HCAHPS Data Submission Deadline
• The HCAHPS Fact Sheet Has Been Revised
• FY 2016 IPPS Proposed Rule now on Display
• The Summary of HCAHPS Survey Results Table for the April 2015 Public Report Period Has Been Revised
• HCAHPS Executive Insight (Gold Navigation Button) Has Been Updated
• HCAHPS Quality Assurance Guidelines V10.0 Survey Materials now Posted
• Patient-Mix Coefficients for July 2015 HCAHPS Results Have Been Posted
• HCAHPS Quality Assurance Guidelines V10.0 Now Available Online
• Official HCAHPS Survey Scores

Background

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The intent of the 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, which is also known as the CAHPS® Hospital Survey, or Hospital CAHPS. 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.

Three broad goals have shaped the HCAHPS survey. First, the survey is designed to produce comparable data on the patient's perspective on care that allows objective and meaningful comparisons between hospitals on domains that are important to consumers. Second, public reporting of the survey results is designed to create incentives for hospitals to improve their quality of care. Third, public reporting will serve to enhance public accountability in health care by increasing the transparency of the quality of hospital care provided in return for the public investment. With these goals in mind, the HCAHPS project has taken substantial steps to assure that the survey is credible, useful, and practical. This methodology and the information it generates are available to the public. 

In May 2005, the National Quality Forum (NQF), an organization established to standardize health care quality measurement and reporting, formally endorsed the CAHPS® Hospital Survey. The NQF endorsement represents the consensus of many health care providers, consumer groups, professional associations, purchasers, federal agencies, and research and quality organizations.