HCAHPS is a national, standardized survey of hospital patients created to publicly report patients’ perspective of hospital care. The survey asks a random sample of recently discharged patients about important aspects of their hospital experience. The HCAHPS results posted on Medicare’s Hospital Compare website (www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov) allow consumers to make fair and objective comparisons of hospitals and individual hospitals to state and national benchmarks.
Contributed by HMX user Dr. Patrick Torcson, MD, MMM, FACP, SFHM, chair of SHM’s Performance and Standards Committee.