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Background

The intent of the HCAHPS initiative is to provide a standardized survey instrument and data collection methodology for measuring patients’ perspectives on hospital care. While many hospitals have collected information on patient satisfaction, prior to HCAHPS there was no national standard for collecting or publicly reporting patients’ perspectives of care information that would enable valid comparisons to be made across all hospitals. In order to make “apples to apples” comparisons to support consumer choice, it was necessary to introduce a standard measurement approach: the HCAHPS Survey, which is also known as the CAHPS® Hospital Survey, or Hospital CAHPS. HCAHPS is a core set of questions that can be combined with a broader, customized set of hospital-specific items. HCAHPS Survey items complement the data hospitals currently collect to support improvements in internal customer services and quality related activities.

Three broad goals have shaped the HCAHPS Survey. First, the survey is designed to produce comparable data on the patient’s perspective on care that allows objective and meaningful comparisons between hospitals on domains that are important to consumers. Second, public reporting of the survey results is designed to create incentives for hospitals to improve their quality of care. Third, public reporting will serve to enhance public accountability in health care by increasing the transparency of the quality of hospital care provided in return for the public investment. With these goals in mind, the HCAHPS project has taken substantial steps to assure that the survey is credible, useful, and practical. This methodology and the information it generates are available to the public.

In May 2005, the National Quality Forum (NQF), an organization established to standardize health care quality measurement and reporting, formally endorsed the CAHPS® Hospital Survey. The NQF endorsement represents the consensus of many health care providers, consumer groups, professional associations, purchasers, federal agencies, and research and quality organizations.

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About the Survey

The HCAHPS Survey is composed of 29 items: 19 items that encompass critical aspects of the hospital experience (communication with nurses, communication with doctors, responsiveness of hospital staff, communication about medicines, discharge information, care transition, cleanliness of the hospital environment, quietness of the hospital environment, overall rating of hospital, and recommendation of hospital); three items to skip patients to appropriate questions; five items to adjust for the mix of patients across hospitals; and two items to support congressionally-mandated reports.

There are four approved modes of administration for the CAHPS® Hospital Survey: 1) Mail Only; 2) Telephone Only; 3) Mixed (mail followed by telephone); and 4) Active Interactive Voice Response (IVR).

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HCAHPS Publications by the HCAHPS Project Team

CMS and the HCAHPS Project Team continually analyze HCAHPS data. To make locating our HCAHPS research easier, we have added a bibliography of publications from the HCAHPS Project Team.

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Previous HCAHPS Executive Insight Letters

Please click here to view the previous Executive Insight letters.

For More Information

To learn more about the HCAHPS Survey, please see the HCAHPS Fact Sheet found at the “Facts” button on this website.

The FY 2020 IPPS Final Rule, establishing the Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems (IPPS), is now available on the Federal Register.

To view the Final Rule and related tables, please click on the following link: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2019-08-16/pdf/2019-16762.pdf.

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To Provide Comments or Ask Questions

For information and technical assistance, contact the HCAHPS Project Team: hcahps@hsag.com or 1-888-884-4007
To communicate with CMS staff: Hospitalcahps@cms.hhs.gov

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Internet Citation

Please use the following citation when referencing material on this website:

https://www.hcahpsonline.org Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Baltimore, MD. Month, Date, Year the page was accessed.

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Helpful Link

For information about the availability of auxiliary aids and services, please visit: http://www.medicare.gov/about-us/nondiscrimination/nondiscrimination-notice.html.

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This page was last modified on (10/31/24)

This site is hosted and maintained by Health Services Advisory Group. It is sponsored by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

This site is hosted and maintained by Health Services Advisory Group.
It is sponsored by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.