Have you ever heard the terms HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers & Systems, pronounced H-CAPS), pay for performance, or value-based purchasing? These are all external forces affecting our practice today. We're all aware of the effect that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has had on our practice related to core measures and the public reporting of these core measures. HCAHPS is the next step to build the bridge between quality and service. Simply put, quality is what happened, service is how did the patient feel about what happened, and HCAHPS is the tool used to measure the patient's perception of quality care.
HCAHPS is different from other patient satisfaction surveys such as Press Ganey. Press Ganey measures a patient's perception of how well aspects of their care were handled using a scale of 1 (very poor) to 5 (very good). The goal is to "strive for all fives." HCAHPS measures how often patients perceived an aspect of care was performed, generally using a scale of never, sometimes, usually, and always. The goal is to "create a culture of always."
The HCAPHS survey is sponsored by the CMS and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The public has access to the results of the surveys online (http://www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov) and can compare the ratings of local hospitals and choose hospitals with the best survey results.
HCAPHS has the potential to affect hospitals' patient volume and staffing. Finally, and very significantly, HCAHPS scores will be tied to reimbursement. As we move toward value-based purchasing, hospitals will be paid for performance. A percentage of the reimbursement will be tied to core measures and the remaining percentage will be tied to HCAHPS results.
Three goals shape HCAHPS:
* to produce data about patients' perspectives of care that allow objective and meaningful comparisons on topics important to patients
* to create new incentives for hospitals to improve quality of care
* to enhance accountability in healthcare by increasing transparency of the quality of hospital care.
As nurses, we're accountable for positive HCAHPS results. By providing top-notch patient care (including demonstrating appropriate behaviors, attitudes, and actions), demanding accountability of ourselves and others, and striving for a culture of "always," we'll be doing the right thing for our patients.
Until the next time, be healthy, be happy, be great advocates for your patients, and challenge practices that lack supporting evidence.
AnneMarie Palatnik, MSN, RN, APN-BC
Director of Clinical Learning Center for Learning Virtua Health Mount Laurel, N.J. [email protected]
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