Recorded presentation

Elizabeth Goldstein, PhD¹, Christine Crofton, PhD², Shoshanna Sofaer, DrPH³, Elizabeth Hoy, MHA⁴, William Lehrman, PhD¹, and Samantha Sheridan, MA⁵. (1) Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 7500 Security Blvd, Baltimore, MD 21244, 410-786-6665, egoldstein@cms.hhs.gov, (2) Center for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 540 Gaither Road, Rockville, MD 20895, (3) School of Public Affairs, Baruch College, 17 lexington Avenue, New York City, NY 10010, (4) Polaris Consulting, 905 Lauren Lane, S.E., Vienna, VA 22180, (5) Westat, 1650 Research Blvd., Rockville, MD 20850

Objective: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is engaged in several initiatives for public reporting of hospital performance measures designed to help improve hospital quality and consumer decision making. As part of this effort, a standard survey is being developed that measures hospital performance from the patient perspective. This survey is called Hospital CAHPS or HCAHPS. This study examines what aspects of hospital quality reported by patients are of greatest interest to consumers.

Method: Initially, six focus groups were conducted in California and Maryland. All six groups included people with Medicare coverage and a mix in terms of age, gender, race/ethnicity and type of health care coverage. An additional nine groups were conducted in Arizona and Florida, and included both the general and Medicare populations.

Results: The most important issues to focus group participants are doctor and nurse communication, including showing courtesy and respect and spending enough time with patients, as well as cleanliness

Discussion: This consumer input helped shape which questions are included on Hospital CAHPS and how results are reported to consumers. The research permitted CMS to ensure the survey both responded to consumer interests and reduced data collection burdens.

Learning Objectives 1. Identify from the perspective of consumers the most useful aspects of hospital quality that can be gathered from surveying hospital discharges. 2. Learn how feedback from these groups has influenced the Hospital CAHPS survey development process.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify from the perspective of consumers the most useful aspects of hospital quality that can be gathered from surveying hospital discharges.
• Learn how feedback from these groups has influenced the Hospital CAHPS survey development process.

Keywords: Health Care Quality,

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

Recorded presentation