Emmi Solutions, a provider of outcomes-driven patient engagement, analyzed nearly 100,000 HCAHPS surveys from multiple service lines in 29 hospitals across the country and demonstrated that patients who viewed one of the company’s web-based, interactive programs reported higher patient satisfaction scores when compared with patients who had not. Patient satisfaction scores have always been important to providers but now that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) are tying reimbursements to HCAHPS scores, increasing scores has become a business imperative.
Based in part on these scores, hospitals can either lose or gain up to 1.5% of their Medicare payments in fiscal year 2015 and over the next few years, CMS will increase it to 2% of reimbursement dollars. With a growing amount of revenue at stake, hospital leaders are looking for strategies to improve the patient experience and boost their HCAHPS scores.
Emmi Solutions’ multimedia programs were prescribed to patients to help simplify complex health information and guide them through vital information concerning an upcoming procedure and post-discharge recovery or self-management of their chronic condition. The company’s technology platform enables tracking and documentation of individuals’ interactions with the programs so HCAHPS scores could be compared between the two cohorts. Further information on the research can be found here, but key statistics include:
– 100% of hospitals improved their aggregate HCAHPS Top Box percentage
– 86% of hospitals improved in the “Doctor Communication” dimension
– 69% of hospitals improved by 4% or more in the “Overall Rating” dimension
– 59% of hospitals improved in the “Nurse Communication” dimension
“We have been helping our clients to improve their patients’ experience and satisfaction with their care for more than 13 years; this comprehensive study reflects the anecdotal feedback we hear everyday,” said Geri Lynn Baumblatt, Emmi’s Executive Director of Patient Engagement. “By giving people essential health information in a way they can easily understand it and by helping to facilitate open communication, patients are ultimately more prepared for their hospital stay. The data shows this approach can definitely lead to providers reporting higher HCAHPS scores and better clinical outcomes.”
