Consumer Reports for Cars, TVs, and Healthcare!
I bet you've used Consumer Reports to help buy a used car, washing machine or hi-def TV. But did you realize that you can now use Consumer Reports to shop for healthcare? Hospital ratings data has now gone mainstream, not buried in obscure sites like cms.hhs.gov and leapfroggroup.org that many consumers are still unaware of.
Consumer Reports is now providing hospital ratings for more than 3,400 U.S. hospitals using HCAHPS data. Consumers can now find the famous "Recommended" checkmark for a hospital just like they would do for a Toyota. You can track ratings on eight performance indicators regarding the patient experience, including nurse and physician communication, room cleanliness, discharge information, staff attentiveness, communication about medications, pain control and noise level.
Are we ready for consumers to see our true colors as they would for a car or computer? Results show that we're not:
- 92% of the hospitals received the lowest ratings for staff communication about medications
- 82% of the hospitals received negative feedback for the way they give out discharge instructions
In short, the kimono is now open. We are exposed to the consumer community and we should be. I would appreciate your thoughts about how we make sure that our customers trust us enough to give us the Consumer Reports "Recommended" checkmark.
Comments
Well said Paul. Hospitals are now baring it all as HCAHPS data finds its way into consumer channels such as Consumer Reports. It's not a kimono that is open. It's a hospital gown. And it's out there for all to see. Time to make some dramatic improvements.
A hospital gown—what a great analogy. You’re absolutely right, hospitals cannot hide anymore because Consumer Reports will bare it all, good and bad. HCAHPS data will not only have a direct relationship with reimbursements, it will also have a direct relationship with patient volume. With HCAHPS data so visible to consumers, they will begin to choose hospitals based on patient experience. Paul
Here is a funny thought to stay with the analogy, the hospital gown has always been open. Unfortunately the gown was open in an askew, unaware and variable style, literally and figuratively. As for the analogy, I will push no further in good taste. The real beauty of HCAHPs is not just in its visibility, patients and families have always seen what they could and judged us for it. Now we will be open to a world of more sophisticated decision-makers making decisions from a consistent and uniform data set. It will be harder to shrug off the comparisons and negative feedback the way we have in the past when they don't behoove us.