Hospitals across the country are trying to boost the patient experience and maintain federal reimbursement under value-based purchasing, but a lack of control over satisfaction scores is leaving many hospital executives concerned, according to a New York Times report.
The VBP program is based on measures used in the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting program, including patient experience measures as indicated by CMS’ HCAHPS survey. Information collected from hospitals from July 1, 2009-March 31, 2010, serves as the baseline. Hospitals that improve outcomes or achieve certain performance standards, compared to their baseline performance, will receive incentive payments for discharges occurring on or after that time.
Patient experience ratings will determine 30 percent of the total bonus payments. The HCAHPS survey asks patients a variety of questions, including one in which they must rank their hospital stay on a scale from 1-10. Medicare will only credit hospitals that receive a nine or 10.
Some hospital officials expressed their frustration over the new policy in the New York Times report. One Cleveland Clinic chief said hospitals are “going to be punished financially by the federal government for things they can’t control.” Another physician from NYU Langone said patients in New York City often have “very high expectations about what it means to be taken care of,” indicating that patient experience is not one-size-fits-all and may vary regionally.
Studies have also shown that the longer a patient remains hospitalized, the less the patient feels he/she is getting adequate attention, according to the report. This brings out another concern for hospitals that handle large numbers of complex cases.
Related Articles on Patient Satisfaction:
U of Chicago Medical Center Devotes Institute to Patient-Physician Relationships With $42M Donation
Web-Based Survey Finds “Dead Zones” in Patient Care That Affect Patient Satisfaction
Survey Shows Physicians Often Fail to Ask Patients About Expectations
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