Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems

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• Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare
  Providers and Systems

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Three broad goals have shaped the HCAHPS survey

• Produce comparable data on the patients
  perspective on care that allows objective and
  meaningful comparisons between hospitals on
  domains that are important to consumers. 
• Create incentives for hospitals to improve their
  quality of care. 
• Enhance public accountability in health care by
  increasing the transparency of the quality of
  hospital care provided in return for the public
  investment.

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27 Total HCAHPS Inpatient Questions

• 4 screener questions
• 5 demographic items
• 16 questions on the patients perspective of
  care encompassing eight key topics
• Communication with doctors
• Communication with nurses
• Responsiveness of hospital staff
• Pain control
• Communication about medicines
• Cleanliness of hospital environment
• Quietness of hospital environment
• Discharge information

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27 Total HCAHPS Questions

• 2 global assessment questions
• Overall rating of this hospital
• Willingness to recommend this hospital
• To see a copy of the survey questions go to
  https//www.cahps.ahrq.gov/content/products
  /PDF/CAHPS_HospitalSurvey-English.htm
• Survey is available in English and Spanish

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HCAHPS Public Reporting

• HCAHPS is another dimension of quality
• Results will be publicly reported on
  www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov
• First public report March 28, 2008
• October 2006 to June 2007 discharges
• Rolling 4 quarters reported after the first
  report
• HCAHPS is linked to the CMS Annual Payment Update
  for PPS hospitals
• Will also report on www.wicheckpoint.org in fall
  of 2008

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Report Process

• Certified hospital/vendor conduct the survey post
  discharge
• Telephone
• Telephonic response system
• Mail
• Certified hospital/vendor submits results to the
  CMS national data warehouse
• 300 surveys per year for large hospital
• 100 surveys per year for small hospital
• Preview report available to your hospitals Q-Net
  Administrator during preview period only.
  Contact Pam Clemens pclemens_at_metastar.com if you
  do not have your report
• Publicly reported results are adjusted for mode
  of survey administration and patient mix
• Public report will display aggregate data by key
  topic areas and the global questions only

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DRAFT Sept. 2007
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DRAFT Sept. 2007
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DRAFT Sept. 2007
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Wisconsin Perspective

• Wisconsin state averages are a couple of points
  higher than the national averages
• We dont expect to see great variation among
  Wisconsin hospitals
• There is not necessarily safety in numbers
• Local press response will vary

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National Press

• There will be a national press conference and/or
  press release on March 28, 2008
• Technical release at Journalist Forum and/or
• Press conference with Secretary Leavitt

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Key Public Messages

• Hospitals are leading the way in health care in
  being transparent about the quality of care they
  provide
• Combining the insights from HCAHPS patient
  experience of care survey with the clinical care
  information already available will give consumers
  a broader look at hospital care
• Hospitals will be able to use HCAHPS information
  in their efforts to improve care. Improving care
  is an ongoing process in health care and what a
  patient experiences is an important part of that
  process

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Now that you know.what can you do?

• Indentify a spokesperson to handle media call
• Review your hospitals results and understand
  what they mean for your stakeholders
• Know steps/projects your hospital has undertaken
  to improve patient experience
• Incorporate WHA talking points
• Will be sent to PR staff prior to March 28th
• Look for the WHA state wide press release

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Now that you know.what can you do?

• Dont wait!
• Establish an HCAHPS task force that includes
  public relations, quality, clinical and patient
  satisfaction staff.
• Develop a strategic communication/action plan
  targeting stakeholders.
• Brief all hospital leaders to get them on board.
  Share the plans of action and the 4 essential
  tools.
• Call your local media contacts to give them a
  heads up.

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4 Essential Tools to have ready

• 1. A no spin background sheet of HCAHPS vital
  information, timeline and website address.
• 2. Printouts of your data with information on
  what will be displayed on the Hospital Compare
  website. Add a visual (e.g. or - red,
  yellow or green) to show strong and weak areas.
• 3. Talking points that Connect HCAHPS reporting
  with other methods that are being used to report
  quality to our public (Check Point, Serve Point,
  Price Point). Connect to mission and vision.
  Commitment to excellence is nothing new.
• 4. Strategic communication/action plan targeting
  stakeholders

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Tool 1 No Spin Background Sheet on HCAHPS

• Vital Information
• HCAHPS stands for Hospital Consumer Assessment of
  Healthcare Providers and Systems
• Three broad goals have shaped the HCAHPS survey.
• - produce comparable data on the patients
  perspective on care that allows objective and
  meaningful comparisons between hospitals on
  domains that are important to consumers. 
• - create incentives for hospitals to improve
  their quality of care. 
• - enhance public accountability in health care
  by increasing the transparency of the quality
  of hospital care provided in return for the
  public investment.
• Information will be divided into these key
  topics Communication with Doctors, Communication
  with Nurses, Responsiveness of Hospital Staff,
  Pain Control, Communication about Medicines,
  Cleanliness of the Physical Environment,
  Quietness of the hospital and Discharge
  Information
• There are two global assessment questions
• 1. Using any number from 0 to 10, where 0 is the
  worst hospital possible and 10 is the best
  hospital possible, what number would you use to
  rate this hospital during your stay? 0 10
• 2. Would you recommend this hospital to your
  friends and family? Definitely no, Probably no,
  Probably yes, Definitely yes

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Tool 1 - continued No Spin Background Sheet
on HCAHPS

• Timeline
• The first set of data will be available to the
  public on March 28, 2008.
• That set of data will be from customers receiving
  service from October 1, 2007 through June 30,
  2007 (three quarters of data).
• Each quarter, new data will be added. A rolling
  twelve months of data will be included in the
  HCAHPS scores.
• Website Address
• HCAHPS scores will be publicly reported on the
  Hospital Compare website, which can be found at
  http//www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov.

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Tool 2HCAHPS Printout of Data
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Tool 3 Talking Points

• Make the talking points succinct, clear and easy
  to remember
• Example Our mission and vision is to be a
  partner with our patients. HCAHPS is one of
  those direct partnerships.
• Example Reporting Quality and commitment to
  excellence is not new - Look at the other
  reporting tools.
• Example Our hospital will use this information
  to build on our strengths and improve on our
  weaknesses.
• Example Wisconsin is a strong state for great
  care. HCAHPS will help us get even better.

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Tool 4 Strategic Communication/Action Plan

• Stakeholders include employees, leadership,
  medical staff, board of directors, general public
  and media reps. Any others? Craft the stakeholder
  point of view and a specific plan of action to
  respond to their concerns and worries.
• Involve stakeholders in building awareness of
  HCAHPS.
• Let leadership know of the plan for each
  stakeholder group.

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Sample MatrixGoal Increase
awareness and understanding of HCAHPS and how
they relate to public perceptions of quality in
healthcare.
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EXAMPLE Stakeholder Point of ViewEmployees /
Internal Customers

• Point of View
• What the heck is an HCAHPS? Why do I need to
  know about just another government requirement?
  What does that have to do with taking care of my
  patients?
• Plan of Action / Tactics
• Reinforce that the customer has greater control
  over their healthcare decisions and a stronger
  public voice about their experience.
• Tie HCAHPS reporting to your mission and/or
  vision.
• Encourage leaders to make rounds to talk with
  staff about the experience that our patients have
  today will be reflected in our HCAHPS scores in
  the future.
• Emphasize the direct connection between patient
  satisfaction, service excellence and HCAHPS
  scores.
• Launch a team of employees to look at HCAHPS weak
  areas. Drill down to identify problem areas and
  create a plan of action to improve those scores
  for future reporting. It requires front line
  perspective, dedication and buy-in for the plan
  to work.

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Stakeholder Point of ViewMedia Reps

• Point(s) of View
• I bet there is lots of dirt to dig up here.
  What negatives can I exploit about this hospital?
  Can I compare the three in my area on which one
  is good and which one is bad?
• What a great thing. Customers can get real
  information on how real people felt about going
  to our hospital.Lets tell everyone about it!
• Plan of Action / Tactics
• Give all media outlets a heads up about the March
  28th release date.
• Provide them with the background information on
  HCAHPS.
• Point out that press releases are forthcoming
  from AHA and/or WHA.
• Assure them that your organization is ready and
  willing to talk with them as the story develops.
• Use WHA messages to reinforce your position that
  HCAHPS really is another way of being transparent
  about the great work that we do and that you will
  be using this feedback to get even better.
• Remind them that Wisconsin was given the
  distinction last year as the 1 state in the
  country for healthcare service. The concept
  holds true for HCAHPS scores as well - the state
  averages for Wisconsin are higher than the
  national averages on the HCAHPS categories.

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• ??? Questions ???

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It is better to be prepared for an opportunity
and not have one than to have an opportunity and
not be prepared.- Whitney Young Jr.
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If you need more Information

• Dana Richardson and Mary Kay Grasmick at
  WHA 608-274-1820
• Kevin Stranberg
• at Memorial Medical Center 715-685-5181
• Thank you to Baird Consulting
• for allowing us to use the strategic
  communication plan
• www.baird-consulting.com