Reinventing HCAHPS surveys for improving patient experience

The absence of digital survey modes (like emails or mobile applications) in HCAHPS surveys acts as a hindrance in capturing patient experience. As these surveys are available in IVR, phone, and physical mail only, it becomes difficult to reach out to patients from minority populations. In fact, the lack of digital modes makes HCAHPS surveys incapable of capturing feedback from younger patients, mainly millennials. Leverage Voxco’s omnichannel survey solutions for transforming every touchpoint into positive patient experience.

Delay in feedback can make improving patient experience difficult

After getting discharged from the hospital, an HCAHPS survey is shared with the patient in between 48 hours to 6 weeks and the submitted responses then take 9 to 21 months to reflect on the hospital’s portal. Ideally, the survey should be shared with the patient at the time of discharge to gain real-time insights into the patient’s experience. Also, the time lag between submission of the survey and public reporting needs to be reduced to make the data more relevant & useful.

Length & language of the survey

The response rate of HCAHPS surveys has fallen with time as most of the patients get frustrated with its length and the language of the questions asked. While the validity of a survey gets eroded with lower response rates, it’s essential to keep the surveys short and engaging. The addition of supplemental questions by hospitals (for improving internal quality) might result in the falling response rates, investing in non-HCAHPS surveys could help to track additional patient metrics. Use Voxco’s multilingual non-HCAHPS web surveys to tide over such limitations.

Changes in patient preferences & hospital models

The advancement of technology in healthcare has completely transformed patients’ choices and expectations. In today’s time, most of the patients prefer to switch hospitals due to poor digital communication with their health professionals. 

As patients come across many health professionals during their period of hospitalization, it becomes confusing for them to understand who is a doctor, a physician, a nurse, or an assistant. This makes it difficult to capture patient experience accurately while making the HCAHPS scores less relevant. 

When it comes to improving patient care experience, HCAHPS surveys need to be re-evaluated and updated with time for staying relevant to both patients and hospitals. You can check out our Patient Experience Hub for related articles and guides that can help you with score better on HCAHPS surveys.