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Beyond HCAHPS, Patient Surveys Dig Into Functional Outcomes
Cheryl Clark, for HealthLeaders Media, May 17, 2012
Just as providers begin to accept that they must improve the "patient experience"—like always delivering care with courtesy and respect—to score well on their Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Provider and Systems (HCAHPS) surveys, a new approach to measuring quality has arrived on the scene. This one, however, promises to revolutionize the customer survey.
These new sampling tools ask patients to tell doctors the result of their treatment regimen, on their own terms after they returned home:
- Did they actually get better?
- Did they return to normal activities just like they could before their surgery? Can they walk up a flight of stairs or around the block or maintain the pace in the square dance routine?
- Did the medicine help?
- Was there pain, and if so how much, compared to what they experienced before?
In other words, patients get to evaluate their outcomes.
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Comments are moderated. Please be patient.
abiola olagoke (5/23/2012 at 2:56 PM)
Realising that the patient is the goal of any treatment modality, these measures being put in place are really welcome. Thanks for sharing this. I hope those of us in developing countries get to that point too where we make provider hospitals more responsible to patients and patients can say more about treatment modality outcome
Anthony_Cirillo_32556 (5/21/2012 at 8:33 PM)
Having just returned from the Assisted Living of America's annual conference, resident acuity, partnering with hospitals and positioning the industry as a transitional care provider were hot topics. This is great if providers actually collaborate and cooperate. However, there is still much silo thinking that abounds. Actual quality of life outcomes are important to measure. And outcomes will only be aided by an industry working together. I also look at this laundry list of additional reporting and wonder how providers and particularly front line staff will be able to actually care for patients and chart all of this for the bean-counters, regulators and watchdogs.
Kristin Baird, RN, BSN, MHA (5/17/2012 at 2:00 PM)
Cheryl, Thanks for another great article. This is such an important topic and once more validates the need for more consistent, high quality post-discharge follow up.