Patient Satisfaction

Patients are asked to participate in satisfaction surveys sent to them by mail after discharge. The HCAHPS^® (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) survey is composed of a variety of questions about aspects of the hospital experience.

Patients provide their opinions on their communication with doctors, communication with nurses, responsiveness of hospital staff, cleanliness and quietness of hospital environment, pain management, communication about medicines, discharge information, overall rating of hospital, and recommendation of hospital.

HCAHPS is a national survey required of all acute hospitals receiving Medicare funding. It is a way to compare patient satisfaction across hospitals locally, regionally and nationally.

Were Patients Given Adequate Discharge Information?

What does this mean?

The graphs show our most recent responses to the questions where the answer was “Always.” In 2009 we achieved scores above the national average and just below the state average. Our goal is to achieve top quartile performance. In recent months three of our hospitals have consistently achieved the top quartile already.

What are we doing to improve?

We have used our system collaborative work group to share best practices. We have begun a program of having nurses make phone calls to patients the day after discharge. This has given us the opportunity to clarify the patient’s questions. By evaluating where patients have questions, we are able to improve our hospital discharge processes. We will track the findings from these calls and use them to optimize our system processes.

How Often Did Nurses Communicate Well With Patients?

What does this mean?

The graphs show our most recent responses to the questions where the answer was “Always.” In 2009 we achieved scores above the national average and just below the state average. Our goal is to achieve top quartile performance. In recent months four of our hospitals have consistently achieved the top quartile already.

What are we doing to improve?

We have used our system collaborative work group to share best practices. We have begun a program of having nurses make phone calls to patients the day after discharge. This has given us the opportunity to clarify the patient’s questions. By evaluating where patients have questions, we are able to improve our pre- discharge communication. We share this information and use it to improve communication.

Communication with Doctors

What does this mean?

The graphs show our most recent responses to the questions where the answer was “Always.” In 2009 we achieved scores just below the state and national averages. In recent months four of our hospitals have consistently achieved above average. Our goal is to achieve top quartile performance.

What are we doing to improve?

While physicians are highly educated in medical care, medical schools have long ignored the need to educate physicians in how to speak with patients in simplified, non-technical language. We have begun a physician education initiative, addressing not just how to use simpler words, but how to give the patient enough time to ask questions and clarifications. Our pilot program showed an improvement of six percentage points in response to this training.

For more information, please contact:
Maria Gray
VP for Quality and Safety
Caritas Christi Health Care System
maria.gray@caritaschristi.org

Additional Information

Additional reports and data can be found on the CMS Hospital Compare site at www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov.