This project seeks to achieve national consensus on a standardized, public domain instrument to measure the quality of hospital care based on patients' experiences with care.
Measuring and publicly reporting the quality of hospital care from the patient’s perspective has become a high priority for patients, hospitals, providers, purchasers, researchers, and quality improvement organizations. Eight in ten Americans believe the quality of medical care is being compromised in the interest of profit, and consumers want to be more informed about how to evaluate the quality of medical care from physicians and hospitals. Patient satisfaction and/or patient experience data serve as critical tools to: i) help consumers make informed decisions regarding hospital care and, ii) help hospitals improve the care they provide. Patient feedback can help identify problems in processes of care, stimulate review and improvement of practice behaviors, which may result in improved quality of care. In July 2002, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services initiated a collaboration to develop a standardized, public domain consumer survey tool that can be used by hospitals to collect comparable data for publicly reporting of hospital patients’ perspectives of the care they received. The resulting tool—referred to as HCAHPS®-was developed in response to an open call for measures and has undergone extensive research, consumer and field testing, multiple opportunities for public comments.
Utilizing HCAHPS® as the starting vehicle, this project will develop consensus among stakeholders on a standardized hospital consumer satisfaction/experience measure for the purpose of public reporting.
Funding for this project has been provided by CMS.
For more information, contact Elaine Power, at 202.783.1300 or e-mail info@qualityforum.org.