Hospitals with high HCAHPS scores tend to have higher mortality rates, suggesting a negative relationship between patient satisfaction and clinical outcomes, according to a study in Risk Management and Insurance Review.
Researchers used Pridit — a tool originally developed to detect healthcare fraud — to measure hospital quality. Pridit generated a score between -1 and 1 based on hospitals' demographic, process, outcomes and patient satisfaction data, with positive scores indicating higher quality. Pridit used data from CMS' Hospital Compare database from 2008 to 2011 as well as 2011 demographic data from the American Hospital Association.
The authors found that Pridit can be used to measure hospitals' overall quality and can show the impact of certain factors on overall quality. Pridit scores showed the highest-level HCAHPS scores were negatively correlated with quality, while mid-level scores were positively associated with quality. Specifically, higher satisfaction was associated with higher mortality rates and lower volumes, but lower readmissions.
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