HCAHPS: Health Care Quality Information from the Consumer Perspective

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Submitted by National Center... on Nov 4, 2013 - 1:05pm CST

Resource Type: 
Tool

The Health Care Quality Information from the Consumer Perspective (HCAHPS, pronounced "H-caps"), also known as the CAHPS Hospital Survey, is a survey instrument and data collection methodology for measuring patients' perceptions of their hospital experience.

CAHPS surveys focus on aspects of care that meet two criteria:

  • The people who received care are the best and/or only source of the information - CAHPS surveys do not attempt to collect information that can be gathered more effectively through other means (e.g., through medical records or from physicians).
  • Consumers and patients identified the information as important to them - The CAHPS program devotes substantial resources to identifying and confirming issues that are salient to health care consumers and influence their decisions.

The HCAHPS Hospital Survey is available here.

Please visit the AHRQ website to learn more about the principles underlying CAHPS surveys.

An HCAHPS fact sheet is available here.

Reference Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (2006). Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems Survey. Baltimore, MD: Centers for Medicare & Medicade Services.
Tool Description

The Health Care Quality Information from the Consumer Perspective Survey (HCAHPS) is a 32-item survey used to measure patients' perspectives of their hospital experience. The following are examples of the topics addressed in survey: communication with doctors, communication with nurses, responsiveness of hospital staff, pain management, communication about medicines, discharge information, cleanliness of the hospital environment, quietness of the hospital environment, and transition of care.

Country  
Setting  
Professions

 

Sample

 

Subscale(s) & Psychometrics 21 patient perspectives on care and nine key topics: communication with doctors, communication with nurses, responsiveness of hospital staff, pain management, communication about medicines, discharge information, cleanliness of the hospital environment, quietness of the hospital environment, and transition of care

http://www.hcahpsonline.org/SummaryAnalyses.aspx

Contact

For technical assistance, contact the HCAHPS Project Team: hcahps@HCQIS.org or 1-888-884-4007
To communicate with CMS staff about implementation issues: Hospitalcahps@cms.hhs.gov

Author(s): 
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
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