A recent study performed by researchers from the RAND Corp. and CMS, among others, has found that hospitals are improving the inpatient care experience.
Using data from the March 2008 and March 2009 Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey — which measures patients' experiences with a range of issues such as cleanliness and communication — the researchers found modest but meaningful gains in patient experience scores.
More specifically, the study, published in the November issue of Health Affairs found improvements in all measures of patient experience, except physicians' communication. The largest increases were related to staff responsiveness and discharge information.
The authors call the findings encouraging and say they may suggest that public reporting of patient experience metrics have led to "modest but meaningful" improvements in a number of experience areas, according to the study.
View the Nov. 2010 issue of Health Affairs.
Using data from the March 2008 and March 2009 Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey — which measures patients' experiences with a range of issues such as cleanliness and communication — the researchers found modest but meaningful gains in patient experience scores.
More specifically, the study, published in the November issue of Health Affairs found improvements in all measures of patient experience, except physicians' communication. The largest increases were related to staff responsiveness and discharge information.
The authors call the findings encouraging and say they may suggest that public reporting of patient experience metrics have led to "modest but meaningful" improvements in a number of experience areas, according to the study.
View the Nov. 2010 issue of Health Affairs.