I used to have a serious problem with the way that National Patient Satisfaction Survey organizations collected and reported results for our hospital. I wanted to know how my hospital could become one of the best in the country in the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) quarterly reports.
The key to a good rating, according to our survey agency, was to score very high in the "top box" score. That meant only the "excellent" or "always" scores were relevant when it came to measuring our hospital against all of the other thousands of hospitals in the United States vying for the same top rating.
I immediately thought of the last time I bought a car. At the conclusion of the sale the car salesman told me that I would be receiving a customer satisfaction questionnaire from the company and he literally begged me to give him a score of "excellent." He said that in his company any score less than "excellent" was considered a failure and it would reflect badly on him. Is this where we are at in healthcare customer service today as well? Is any rating less than excellent a failure?
I determined to study all of our score results. I looked not only at the "excellent" scores, but also the "very good," "good," "fair," and "poor" scores. When I did, I found that we were so focused on the "top box" that we were missing sight of the fact that our nurses were achieving some very impressive scores in key areas of patient satisfaction. We were 94th percentile Nationally for Nurses Communication and 90th percentile Nationally for Nurses Concern for Patients Privacy.
We reported these successes to our staff along with all of our results. The outcome was that our "top box" scores started to improve. Within two years we achieved some of the highest ratings in the country for nursing care.
Today, I believe that we are capable of consistently ranking among the top hospitals in the country for HCAHPS. As hospital CEO, I round on the patient floors at least once per week, visiting patients and asking them about the care they received in our hospital. Very often I receive compliments for members of our staff from our patients. This, in turn, gives me the opportunity to provide further recognition to our employees. The lesson that I have learned is when you stay close to the customers, the "top box" takes care of itself.
Raymond Hino, MPA, FACHE, is the Chief Executive Officer of Mendocino Coast District Hospital in California.
by Raymond Hino
The key to a good rating, according to our survey agency, was to score very high in the "top box" score. That meant only the "excellent" or "always" scores were relevant when it came to measuring our hospital against all of the other thousands of hospitals in the United States vying for the same top rating.
I immediately thought of the last time I bought a car. At the conclusion of the sale the car salesman told me that I would be receiving a customer satisfaction questionnaire from the company and he literally begged me to give him a score of "excellent." He said that in his company any score less than "excellent" was considered a failure and it would reflect badly on him. Is this where we are at in healthcare customer service today as well? Is any rating less than excellent a failure?
I determined to study all of our score results. I looked not only at the "excellent" scores, but also the "very good," "good," "fair," and "poor" scores. When I did, I found that we were so focused on the "top box" that we were missing sight of the fact that our nurses were achieving some very impressive scores in key areas of patient satisfaction. We were 94th percentile Nationally for Nurses Communication and 90th percentile Nationally for Nurses Concern for Patients Privacy.
We reported these successes to our staff along with all of our results. The outcome was that our "top box" scores started to improve. Within two years we achieved some of the highest ratings in the country for nursing care.
Today, I believe that we are capable of consistently ranking among the top hospitals in the country for HCAHPS. As hospital CEO, I round on the patient floors at least once per week, visiting patients and asking them about the care they received in our hospital. Very often I receive compliments for members of our staff from our patients. This, in turn, gives me the opportunity to provide further recognition to our employees. The lesson that I have learned is when you stay close to the customers, the "top box" takes care of itself.
Raymond Hino, MPA, FACHE, is the Chief Executive Officer of Mendocino Coast District Hospital in California.