Press Ganey HCAHPS Reporting: Why the Survey is Beneficial to our Patients

At the Orthopaedic Hospital of Wisconsin, our singular focus is right in our name: Orthopaedics. We’re experts in the treatment of injuries to the musculoskeletal system. Because of our specialized focus, we’ve perfected our approach. Our success is reflected in the many awards and recognition we have received over the years.

Even though we are among the highest-ranked in our field, we believe there is always room for improvement. Every decision we make is with a focus on our patients. We value their input and feedback about their experience, which is why we survey every patient that walks through our doors. We use Press Ganey databases to track and analyze our patients’ feedback to ensure we address every concern and repeat our successes.

The Hospital Consumer of Healthcare Provider Survey, or HCAHPS results are not only beneficial to us as a hospital, but also to all patients receiving care across the nation. The patient satisfaction survey results can be used by patients to compare providers, ensuring they choose the best healthcare organization for their needs. Here is how we use the information we gather from our patient surveys to continue our reputation for excellent care at the Orthopaedic Hospital of Wisconsin.

WHAT IS THE HCAHPS AND HOW DOES OHOW RANK?

The Hospital Consumer of Healthcare Provider Survey or HCAHPS is the standardized national survey that benchmarks our hospital against other healthcare providers at the local, regional, and national levels. We use Press Ganey Associates to keep track of our HCAHPS scores and submit our data to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) monthly. CMS developed the HCAHPS in 2006 to create a standard in reporting for patient care. Even though most hospitals were surveying patients in some way before the implementation of HCAHPS, CMS developed a nationwide survey for three patient-focused reasons.

The first reason for the HCAHPS is that the data is comparable between hospitals. Consumers can not only see how we are performing as a hospital, but they can put the data into perspective by setting results side-by-side with our competitors. Check out OHOW’s scores compared to other hospitals in the nation to quickly see we’re ranked exceptionally high.

The second reason that CMS implemented the HCAHPS is to encourage and incentivize hospitals to improve their quality of care. Even though OHOW has historically ranked in the top 5% in the nation for all categories, we still use the survey to find new ways to satisfy our patients. Our leadership team and CEO, Brian Cramer, read the comments and share them with staff to address any grievances and celebrate patient satisfaction. HCAHPS allows us to discover new, innovative ways to improve your care. 

Finally, the public reporting and sharing of HCAHPS increases the transparency and accountability of the quality of care provided by hospitals. At OHOW, we encourage you to submit patient satisfaction surveys because we know that your feedback is critical to continuing our exceptional service and care. We want to continue to live up to our reputation and make sure our specialists are always making your treatment as pleasant as it can be.

WHY WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU

We understand that every person that comes to OHOW for care is unique, which is why it’s beneficial to listen to the comments and perspectives of every patient. We provide each patient with an HCAHPS based on our outpatient, inpatient, or outpatient rehab services at OHOW. Each category breaks down their experience further to examine and pinpoint where we performed well. The survey also offers ratings on hospital-wide questions such as:

• Rate the hospital overall
• Likelihood of recommending
• Cleanliness of the hospital environment
• Quietness of the hospital environment
• Communication with nurses
• Response of hospital staff
• Communication with doctors
• Overall environment

Each of these categories plays a role in your satisfaction during your visit to OHOW. Even though we ranked in the top 1% for overall patient satisfaction for all U.S. hospitals as measured by Press Ganey in the HCAHPS, we still encourage patients to share where they see areas we could improve. We also want to hear about aspects of the visit that were memorable and pleasant, so we can continue to provide top-quality services to all our patients in the future.

AREAS OF OUTPATIENT AND INPATIENT SERVICES WE EXPLORE

Our outpatient and inpatient experiences at the Orthopaedic Hospital of Wisconsin are unparalleled in the field. Our facility was built with you, the patient, in mind, with soothing colors instead of the traditional stark white and with hospital rooms that feel more like a hotel stay. We offer excellent dining options. We have the best nursing staff, renowned doctors, and a highly-skilled care team to make sure you are always in expert hands.

Many of our procedures are in the outpatient category, such as CT, x-ray, MRI, lab, and EKG. The HCAHPS rates the registration process, care, and overall assessment of patient experience at OHOW. The registration process category considers all aspects of a patient’s visit down to the comfort of the waiting room and the helpfulness of our registration team.

Our inpatient unit encompasses the entire visit to OHOW during surgery, from admission to discharge. We monitor six different categories for our inpatient unit on the HCAHPS:

• The admissions process
• Satisfaction with your room
• Meals and dining service
• Quality of our nurses and nursing staff
• Tests and treatments 
• Family and guest experience

We typically score in the 95th percentile in all categories and receive raving reviews on the majority of our patient satisfaction surveys. For example, “OHOW is the only place I will go! Awesome facility and staff. No one likes going to a hospital, but it’s a relaxing, great place.” Our positive comments always heavily outweigh the negative, frequently mentioning our skilled physicians, impeccable facility, and our top-ranked care team.

Whether you’re coming in for a quick outpatient procedure or staying with us for a few nights, we make sure that we listen to your opinions and feedback. We’re one of the highest-ranked hospitals in the nation for our patient experiences, but we want to make sure that we are upholding that standard for every patient we see.

HOW WE USE THE PRESS GANEY HCAHPS FEEDBACK AT OUR CLINICS

In addition to our outpatient and inpatient services, we also have six outpatient sports medicine and rehabilitation locations that we analyze with Press Ganey and the HCAHPS. We have a rehabilitation center at our main hospital in Glendale and five off-site clinics in Cedarburg, Shorewood, New Berlin, Greenfield, and our new location in Wauwatosa. Our clinics are all built with the patient in mind, allowing you to receive care from our talented physical therapists at a state-of-the-art facility in a city near your home.

Our physical therapy clinics are rated on the following categories:

• Scheduling and registration
• Facility
• Physical Therapy
• Personal Issues
• Overall Assessment

Each of our physical therapy clinics extends the same high-level care provided at the Orthopaedic Hospital of Wisconsin before your surgery, after your surgery, or even if you aren’t having surgery at all. We care about your therapy experience, and when you ask for something, we listen. Our patients requested more access to physical therapy appointments, so we built physical therapy sites throughout the Greater Milwaukee area.

RECOGNITION WE HAVE RECEIVED FROM PRESS GANEY

We use the feedback we get from our surveys to compare our previous benchmarks and to see how we rank with other hospitals. OHOW is considered one of the top Orthopaedic programs in the nation with some of the best patient experiences. We have received numerous awards for our high-quality care and positive patient outcomes, such as Becker’s Hospital Review’s “100 Hospitals and Health Systems with Great Orthopedic Programs” and #1 in the nation for CMS Value-Based Purchasing. 

Not only have we received awards from outside sources, but we’ve also won awards directly from Press Ganey based on our excellent survey scores. As mentioned above, we continually rank in the top 1% for patient satisfaction based on the results of surveys coming directly from our patients.

For the past ten years, we have received the Press Ganey Guardian of Excellence Award and the Press Ganey Summit Award for sustaining patient satisfaction scores in the 95th percentile. We are the only orthopedic specialty hospital in the greater Milwaukee area to have this honor. 

The awards only matter to us because they confirm we’re doing an excellent job for our patients. We want to make sure that every patient who comes to us for treatment feels satisfied with their visit. So, if you are experiencing an orthopedic injury, request an appointment today to see what the OHOW difference is all about. We promise to listen to your needs and opinions to make sure that you have the best experience possible at the Orthopaedic Hospital of Wisconsin.