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Overview | A Note About HCAHPS "Boxes"
| Summary of HCAHPS Survey Results Table |
HCAHPS Percentile Table | HCAHPS Patient-Level Correlations
Table | HCAHPS Hospital Characteristics Comparison Charts
HCAHPS Tables on HCAHPS On-Line
Overview
HCAHPS On-Line, the official HCAHPS Web site, houses a series of tables that summarize
current and historic HCAHPS results. These HCAHPS Tables, available exclusively
on HCAHPS On-Line, are based on the HCAHPS data participating hospitals submit to
CMS. Before being publicly reported, data are adjusted for the effects of patient-mix
and mode of survey administration. More information regarding patient-mix and survey
mode adjustment can be found by clicking here.
To view the full set of current results on each HCAHPS measure for individual hospitals,
please visit the "Survey of Patients' Hospital Experiences" section of
the Hospital Compare Web site (www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov).
A Note About HCAHPS "Boxes"
HCAHPS results are publicly reported on Hospital Compare as “top-box,” “bottom-box”
and “middle-box” scores. The “top-box” is the most positive response
to HCAHPS survey questions. The “top-box” response is "Always” for five
HCAHPS composites (Communication with Nurses, Communication with Doctors, Responsiveness
of Hospital Staff, Pain Management, and Communication about Medicines) and two individual
items (Cleanliness of Hospital Environment and Quietness of Hospital Environment),
"Yes" for the sixth composite, Discharge Information, "‘9’ or ‘10’ (high)"
for the Overall Hospital Rating item, and "Would definitely recommend”
for the Recommend the Hospital item.
The “bottom-box” is the least positive response category for HCAHPS
measures. The “bottom-box” response is "Sometimes or never” for five HCAHPS
composites (Communication with Nurses, Communication with Doctors, Responsiveness
of Hospital Staff, Pain Management, and Communication about Medicines) and two individual
items (Cleanliness of Hospital Environment and Quietness of Hospital Environment),
"No" for the sixth composite, Discharge Information, "‘6’ or lower (low)"
for the Overall Hospital Rating item, and "Would not recommend” for the
Recommend the Hospital item.
The “middle-box” captures intermediate responses to HCAHPS survey
items. The “middle-box” response is "Usually” for five HCAHPS composites (Communication
with Nurses, Communication with Doctors, Responsiveness of Hospital Staff, Pain
Management, and Communication about Medicines) and two individual items (Cleanliness
of Hospital Environment and Quietness of Hospital Environment), "‘7’ or ‘8’ (medium)"
for the Overall Hospital Rating item, and "Would probably recommend” for
the Recommend the Hospital item. There is no “middle-box” response in the Discharge
Information composite.
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Summary of HCAHPS Survey Results Table
The Summary of HCAHPS Survey Results Table contains the average
“top-box” scores for each of the ten HCAHPS measures at the state and national level.
For example, the column labeled "Comm. with Nurses" displays the
percent of patients who reported that their nurses "Always" communicated
well. Also displayed are the number of participating hospitals and the survey response
rate for hospitals in each state and in the nation.
In addition to the current public reporting period table, we provide an archive
of results from each previous public reporting period. Updated quarterly.
Current Table
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HCAHPS Percentiles Table
Key percentiles are displayed in the HCAHPS Percentiles Table for
each of the ten publicly reported HCAHPS measures. Both “top box” (most positive)
and “bottom box” (least positive) values are shown at the 5th, 10th, 25th, 50th,
75th, 90th, and 95th percentiles. Using the HCAHPS Percentiles Table, one can easily
see where a hospital’s “top-box” and “bottom-box” score place it relative to other
hospitals on each HCAHPS measure.
The “top-box” score indicates how often patients selected the most positive response
category when asked about their hospital experience. The higher a hospital’s “top-box”
score, the higher it ranks among participating hospitals.
The “bottom-box” score, on the other hand, reflects how frequently patients chose
negative responses when asked about their hospital experience. Low “bottom-box”
scores, and thus a low percentile rank, indicate that a relatively small percentage
of a hospital’s patients responded negatively about their hospital experience. Conversely,
a hospital with a high “bottom-box” score, and thus a high percentile rank, had
a relatively large percentage of patients who were critical of their hospital experience.
Please note that while a high “top-box” score is usually associated with a low “bottom-box”
score, this is not always the case for a specific hospital. This is because for
all HCAHPS measures except Discharge Information, there is also a “middle-box” category,
such as “Usually,” that varies in size.
In addition to the percentiles table for the current public reporting period, we
provide an archive of results from each previous public reporting period. Updated
quarterly.
Current Table:
Previous Tables:
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HCAHPS Patient-Level Correlations Table
The HCAHPS Patient-Level Correlations Table presents inter-correlations
of the ten publicly reported HCAHPS measures. These patient-level Pearson correlations
are calculated from linear means for the ten HCAHPS measures. Patient-level equivalents
were created for each of the six hospital composite measures; the remaining four
measures are individual items. The current HCAHPS Correlations Table is based on
2.7 million completed surveys from patients discharged between July 2009 and June
2010.
Patient-level, inter-item correlations can be helpful in quality improvement efforts
by identifying "key drivers." For instance, "key driver" analyses sometimes use
patient-level associations to predict global items, such as ratings and recommendations,
from more specific patient experience measures, such as composites and individual
items. The HCAHPS Patient-Level Correlations Table will be refreshed on an annual
basis.
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HCAHPS Hospital Characteristics Comparison Charts
The HCAHPS Hospital Characteristics Comparison Charts are the newest
addition to the HCAHPS Summary Analyses page on the HCAHPS Web site. The charts
depict hospital performance on each of the ten publicly reported HCAHPS measure
by hospital Region, Bed Size, Teaching Status, Ownership and Control, and Location,
as well as national results for each measure. The charts allow users to see how
hospitals that differ on these specific characteristics perform on HCAHPS. The ten
charts include Communication with Nurses, Communication with Doctors, Responsiveness
of Hospital Staff, Pain Management, Communication about Medicines, Cleanliness of
Hospital Environment, Quietness of Hospital Environment, Discharge Information,
Overall Rating of Hospital, and Recommend the Hospital, as well as an explanatory
Appendix.
For each hospital characteristic (for example, “Location”), the chart displays the
average scores of hospitals in each category of that characteristic (for example,
“Rural” and “Urban”). Average scores are calculated for “top-box,” “middle-box,”
and “bottom-box” HCAHPS measures; see above for more information about HCAHPS “boxes.”
For example, hospitals with Bed Size between 6 and 24 had an average “top-box” score
on Communication with Nurses of 83%, while hospitals with more than 500 beds
had an average score of 73%. The charts also display the number of hospitals
and completed surveys for each hospital characteristic category.
Please note that while the HCAHPS Hospital Characteristics Comparison Charts presented
here resemble those in the CAHPS®
Hospital Survey Chartbook of 2007
and 2008, direct comparison with these Chartbooks is not advised because of differences
in measure calculation and patient-mix adjustment.
For details and further explanation of hospital characteristic categories, please
refer to the Appendix that accompanies the HCAHPS Hospital Characteristics Comparison
Charts.
The HCAHPS Hospital Characteristics Comparison Charts are based upon inpatient discharges
from July 2009 through June 2010, publicly reported on Hospital Compare in April
2011. The hospital characteristics (Region, Bed Size, etc.) are derived from a survey
of hospitals conducted by the American Hospital Association (AHA) in 2009 and published
in the AHA Guide 2011 Edition. Please note that 40 hospitals from the April
2011 HCAHPS public reporting are not included in the charts because their hospital
characteristics information was not available from the AHA. Updated Annually.
Current Chart
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