5 Ways to Raise HCAHPS Scores via Staff Engagement

4. Reward the small victories
Because interactions with patients occur on a hard-to-track, minute-by-minute basis, it's important to celebrate and reward small successes.

Peer-to-peer rewards called "High Fives" are a strategic part of reinforcing patient-centered care at Gundersen Lutheran. Units reward team members for day-to-day moments when a high quality of patient care is demonstrated.   

"When they go into that room, even if they are late going into a room to change the bedpan, if they manage that interaction with the patient, it's an opportunity to congratulate someone on how they put the patient at the center of their approach," says McCartney. "We give out over 1,000 of these a year. That's a lot of opportunities to continue the patient-centered care message."

With a peer-to-peer recognition system, employees have regular reasons to notice the good work of their teammates. Encouraging the values of patient-centered care becomes everyone's job, while it also builds positive interactions and camaraderie. It just might make a disengaged employee, who rewards a teammate that upholds the organization's values, check-in about the quality of their own work.

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