Rate Your Stay with HCAHPS Phone Survey

Along with almost every hospital in the nation, CCH participates in the government’s HCAHPS survey—a requirement for hospitals if they want to be reimbursed by Medicare and Medicaid. The survey asks patients to rate their recent hospital experience on scales from 1 to 10 and ‘never’ to ‘always.’ In this competitive healthcare world, it’s only the 9s, 10s and ‘always’ that matter.

“We welcome the surveys because we want to know how patients feel about their experience. We use feedback to reward our staff when scores are high and to guide our improvements when they are not,” says Mary Barks, Patient & Physician Relations.

Patients can expect a call one to three weeks after their hospital stay. CCH surveys 155 patients each quarter.

“We urge you to take the call. It’s very important to us to measure how we are doing,” Barks adds.

Participating in the HCAHPS survey not only improves healthcare in your community but also adds to the online database where you can compare CCH to other like hospitals across the nation. Results are posted at medicare.gov/hospitalcompare. Soon, surveys will be required for the clinics, emergency department and hospice care.

The government only gives full reimbursement for a score of 9, 10 and an ‘always’. This can be confusing, as most people consider 7 or 8 as a pretty good score on a scale from 1 to 10, but in the HCAHPS world, any score lower than 9 equals zero.

“We have been surveying our patients long before HCAHPs because we truly strive for excellence. We want you to come to CCH because you know you will get great care here,” concludes Barks.

So you know
HCAHPS surveys must be completed by an outside vendor. CCH uses HealthStream, Inc. based out of Maryland. Calls come from 301-575-9366.