The Hospital Quality Institute (HQI), in collaboration with HASC and the other Regional Associations, has released the California HCAHPS Improvers Playbook to assist hospitals with increasing response rates to the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey. HQI analysis has revealed that a one percent increase in response rate is predictive of a one-half percent increase in overall mean score. Achieving a statewide average response rate of 28 percent would help advance the statewide mean score to the next quartile of performance.

Aimed specifically at hospitals with response rates below the state’s current average of 25 percent, the guide offers practical strategies to bolster patient response rates, including letting patients know their opinions matter, sending the survey as soon as possible after patient discharge, increasing survey sample sizes, using the patient’s preferred language in the survey, and using both mail and phone approaches to survey administration. The playbook also includes key learnings from high performing hospitals, and a useful tool for noise reduction.

Contact:
Jenna Fischer
(925) 746-5106
jfischer@hospitalcouncil.org