Patient experience star ratings, why hospitals should look past HCAHPS scores to truly improve patient experience and the effect hourly rounding can have on patient experience scores piqued the interest of readers this year.
The following are the 10 most popular patient experience-related stories published by Becker's Healthcare in 2016.
1. Hospitals with high patient experience star ratings don't have better outcomes, new analysis finds
A study from Quantros released in August found hospitals with a one-star patient experience rating from CMS outperformed in terms of quality hospitals with a five-star patient experience rating.
2. Study: Hospitals that deliver superior patient experience see 50% higher margins
An Accenture study found hospitals with high HCAHPS scores see revenues and net margins grow at an above-average rate.
3. To what extent does hourly rounding impact patient experience scores?
Research from the Institute for Innovation showed patients who reported nurses or staff rounded hourly during their stay rated their overall care experience higher than patients who did not get rounded on.
4. Through the eyes of the patient: Looking beyond HCAHPS to improve patient experience
"If you're using [HCAHPS] as your only metric, you only have an inpatient focus for what patient experience is," says Debbie Landers, senior vice president of healthcare strategic communications and engagement firm Jarrard Phillips Cate & Hancock.
5. Transforming the patient experience: One patient's story
Ken Kaufman shares his friend's journey through the healthcare system as she fought ovarian cancer.
6. 5 hospitals taking unique approaches to improving the patient experience
U.S. News & World Report highlighted five hospitals that have taken distinctive approaches to providing a great experience for patients.
7. Yelp and patient experience — the value of unstructured reviews
Provider organizations can garner fresh perspective on patient experience from reviews on websites like Yelp, a JAMA viewpoint article argued.
8. Blood draws: A mandate to improve patient experience
Blood draws are the most common invasive medical procedure in hospitals but they cause tremendous disruption for patients and clinicians.
9. Patients and providers don't see eye-to-eye on patient experience: 6 survey findings
A survey conducted by digital health company Lumeon found patients and providers have very different ideas of what constitutes a good healthcare experience.
10. CMS officials to hospitals: Stop misusing HCAHPS measures
Three officials from CMS wrote a viewpoint piece in JAMA urging hospital leaders to stop disaggregating measures from HCAHPS for internal use.