Health Care At Medicare Certified Hospitals

The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers (HCAHPS) began in 2006 with a 27 question survey that is distributed to discharged patients. This survey process was originally designed to help patients compare hospitals in their area to be able to make an informed choice for their healthcare needs. In January 2013, five additional questions were added to the survey. Beginning this year, Medicare reimbursement rates to a hospital are tied to the hospital’s patient satisfaction scores. Therefore, hospitals are continually looking for ways to improve

Healthcare is in a constant state of change with movements that impact rates, access and quality of care. Hospitals have become more competitive due to the rising cost of care delivery and the reduction in reimbursement from payers. This causes difficulty in delivering quality care to all patients, which is being measured by mandated patient perception surveys, Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS). HCAHPS scores are part of value

Satisfaction scores are based on the percentage of participants scoring a question given with the highest possible response such as “definitely yes or always”. These scores are then used to make improvements to the services that the hospital provides. The marks are compared to other hospitals in the area with the same specialty service during the period of July 2016 until December of 2015. The Sterling Heights Medical Center location scored above average in the following areas: Overall satisfaction with the physician 88.2 % with the other Michigan hospitals scoring 87.0%. How well the patient’s pain was controlled was 84.7% with other local hospitals scoring 80.9%, and the nursing care satisfaction was 89.5% with other local hospitals scoring 88.2%. Henry Ford Hospital is located on W. Grand Blvd in downtown Detroit was one of the HFHS locations that scored below average as compared to other Southeast Michigan Hospitals. The results are as follows: Overall satisfaction with physician was 84.9% with local hospitals scoring 87.0%. How well the patient’s pain was controlled scored 75.5% as compared to 80.9%, and nursing care came in at 83.3% with the local average being 88.2% (Patient Satisfaction Survey,

According to Hospital Compare Cape Fear Valley Hospital is labeled as as “Worse than national bench mark” for CAUTI rates (Medicare.Gov, 2015)

With patients today using the threat of reporting low satisfaction rates in the hopes of receiving faster or higher quality care, they seem to have taken the upper hand in some of the decision making of what will take place in the healthcare world (Sullivan). But is it really the survey results that will make the drastic changes that are needed?

Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems. In the latest scores published after the third quarter of 2012 Baptist Health scored at or above the national average in all measures. In each geographical region, that the HCO serves all responses to the survey indicated that more patients would recommend a stay at a Baptist Health facility over any other facility in the region (Quality, 2013).

At present, the accreditation is a process of review that health care organizations participate in to display the ability to meet approved criteria and standards of accreditation. Accreditation represents agencies as credible and reputable organizations dedicated to ongoing and continuous compliance with the highest standard of quality. Professional accrediting agency work together with the health care industry experts to create standards to ensure that quality is maintained throughout all aspects of an organization (Accreditation Commission for Health Care, 2008; Greenfield, Pawsey & Braithwaite, 2010). However, the on-site surveys are conducted, today unannounced, by health care industry experts. A inclusive review is conducted of organizational structure, policies and procedures, compliance with federal, state, and local laws, leadership, patients’ rights and responsibilities, fiscal operations, human resource management, provision of

Since most specialty procedures are inpatient services, EMC’s inpatient occupancy rate suffers. The occupancy rate for Emanuel Medical Center – fifty percent – is far below that of its competitors and industry benchmarks. To accompany this, EMC (on average) receives a lower reimbursement for in-patient Medicare services per patient seen in comparison to its competitors. A result such as this is correlated with directly to the fewer amount of specialty services that EMC offers. In order for Emanuel Medical Center to be able to compete with other hospitals in its service area, it is imperative that EMC evaluates what services they currently offer and are capable to offer in the future to add value to the hospital, increase its revenue stream, and expand its patient mix. Currently, Emanuel Medical Center has not succumbed to its increasing financial pressurealthough EMC has had a negative operating income for five straight years. A negative operating income places EMC at a disadvantage because it limits the hospitals ability to renovate its aging building or hire new specialists to offer revenue enhancing procedures. EMC’s competitors, on the other hand, have large sources of revenue due to their mergers with large healthcare networks such as Catholic Healthcare West. Another competitor, Kaiser Permanente Modesto Medical Center, has extremely large financial resources due to the fact

In this case, this increases transparency in the market as it supports informed decision-making, which can help drive improvement that results in higher quality care, lower costs and more engaged patients. In addition, MONAHRQ has established partnerships with different organizations to provide customers with a system that has integrated the highest-quality of care in which ensures communities their required needs. The mission, vision, and values have a big role in hospitals working together with all of their patients to identify the health and well-being of every customer. Washington State hospitals and hospital systems also mainly focused on their customer evaluation and satisfaction values by respecting patients and their care, which helps them sustain a healthy and safe environment in a community that identifies with every individual patient.

For the purpose of this paper Chesapeake Regional Medical Center (CRMC) has been chosen to discuss the organizational structure. CRMC is an independent, community focused organization that has been founded in 1960 by the community members. The mission of CRMC includes the improvement of health and well-being of the citizens it serves. The hospital incorporates the following major core values in the delivery of patient care: service, dignity, excellence, justice, and innovation. The future vision of the hospital

High quality of service is being provided to patients at low cost. The cost comparisons between Shouldice and other hospitals in Table 1

Clearly, patient care is also a critical factor in how hospitals in general around the nation are chosen for the top 20, 50, and 100 lists that are generated on a year to year basis and fairly so since it is one of the most important parts of the criterion (Allgeyer, 2011). The national average for customer satisfaction for overall hospitals is 69% and that percentage of voters specifically would recommend their hospitals to their friends and family (Reed & May, 2011). John Hopkins Hospitals just happens to hold an 85% overall positive customer satisfaction, which is well above the national average and pretty much lets you know that a lot of people get a lot out of the hospital and a lot of people think that this hospital is very effective at what they do (Reed & May, 2011). The national average for people not recommending their hospitals to family and friends are at 5%, while

The Computerized Provider Order Entry is effective program to help organization improve quality measures and financial margins. The CPOE is effective program; which monitors a hospitals current performance and calculates methods of improvement. For example, Trinity Hospital a leader in clinical intelligence to track and report across it members hospitals on systems wide quality measures (Balgrosky, 2015). The Clinical Provider Order Entry will help patients compare programs graded by the Center for Medicare & Medicaid and Hospital Quality Assurance. This program will further enhance the patient-centric model because patients will have comprehensive comparison of hospitals to make informed medical decision as to where they would like to receive treatment. The quality measures monitor readmission, complications, patient’s experience surveys and other categories. Patients are interested in receiving health care in top-notched care facilities that address their needs. Consumer needs are very important because translating into referrals by word-of-mouth or rankings. Technology plays a major role in an organization's success with supports Judy Murphy idea of enhancing patient’s health information technology

Since 1993, the Truven Health 100 Top Hospitals program has used both independent and objective research to guide hospital and health system performance. In this process, they analyze public data sources to compare hospitals to similar organizations. The 100 Top Hospitals program uses a balanced scorecard that incorporates public data, proprietary, peer-reviewed methodology and key performance metrics to arrive at an objective, independent analysis of hospital or health system performance. This research measures performance, organizational alignment, progress

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have recently begun requiring hospitals to report to the public how they are doing on patient care. Brown, Donaldson and Storer Brown (2008) introduce and explain how facilities can use quartile dashboards to