Ix and Patients’ Experience with Hospital Care
By Josh Seidman | Popularity: 29%A good study appeared in the October 30, 2008 New England Journal of Medicine related to the first public release of HCAHPS data. HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) is a “standardized survey of the experiences of adult inpatients with hospital care and services.” This study is based on July 2006-June 2007 voluntary reporting, but Medicare (CMS) is requiring hospital reporting going forward.
Overall experience data are not surprising: Reasonably satisfied but plenty of room for improvement. Although 89% of patients rated their overall experience 7 or better (10 being the best), only 63% rated it a 9 or 10.
What was most informative was where the data suggested were the greatest areas for improvement:
- Provision of clear discharge instructions
- Communication about medications
- Nursing care
- Pain control
I could make an argument that good information therapy (Ix) that was integrated into systems of care would improve performance in all four of these areas. Clearly, though, the first two areas for improvement are obvious targets for Ix interventions.
Hospitals that want to score better in how they provide discharge instructions and communicate about medications should be working hard now to embed Ix strategies into their core care delivery practices. With public reporting of HCAHPS data just around the corner, this could become an important strategic initiative for hospitals in competitive markets.
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November 12th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
Ix extends the hospital’s business success in three areas:
1. It increases family and patient satisfaction regarding how well they were informed about the care and what they could do to extend it.
2. It helps the hospital achieve higher scores on pay-for-performance measures.
3. It reduces short-term readmissions and preventable medical errors.
Perhaps more importantly Ix extends any hospital mission focused on improving the health of the population and community.
HCAHPS is one good measure to show how Ix moves the hospital performance needle in the right direction. However, the justification for Ix in hospitals goes way beyond HCAHPS.