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Patients Speak Up and Hospitals Pay Attention: Healthcare Consumers' Perceptions Match Government Clinical Quality Measures

Posted on: Wednesday, 7 December 2005, 09:00 CST

WASHINGTON, Dec. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Hospitals that provide excellent customer service also achieve excellence in clinical quality says a new study conducted by Press Ganey Associates, a leader in health care satisfaction measurement and improvement initiatives. The study confirms that patients themselves are good judges of quality in health care.

Recently published in the Journal for Healthcare Quality, Press Ganey researchers compared the publicly reported clinical data for heart failure from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital Compare with patient satisfaction data from hospitals partnering with Press Ganey to improve service quality to patients. With 4,200 hospitals participating in CMS Voluntary Quality Initiative and more than 1,500 hospitals partnering with Press Ganey, the study represents an unprecedented convergence of objective clinical quality of care and subjective patients' satisfaction with their experience of care.

CMS has four measures of clinical quality for heart failure treatment. Two of the four measures showed statistically significant, strong positive correlations with heart failure patients' evaluations of their care experience. Translation - hospitals that performed well in meeting patients' clinical needs also tended to do a good job meeting the service needs of patients and their families. The observed relationship between these clinical measures and patient satisfaction demonstrates that in the best hospitals, excellence cuts across all aspects of care.

Melvin F. Hall, PhD, President and CEO of Press Ganey noted, "For years health care consumers have said they want both expert technical quality and superior service. This study confirms that this is not an either/or proposition and in fact one is highly related to the other. Consumers can have and deserve both."

"The implications of this study are significant as we (finally) appreciate the linkages between good medicine and good business," observed David A. Shore, PhD, Associate Dean at the Harvard School of Public Health and Director of the Trust Initiative and Forces of Change Programs. "Such data is particularly timely as we make our way into an era of consumer-directed health care in which patients will increasingly look for providers who can superbly care for them, while also caring about them."

With this study, hospitals that are paying attention to both service and clinical quality measures now, will lead the way as CMS begins to implement pay-for-performance. Under the CMS policies, high performing hospitals get bonuses in reimbursement from Medicare while low-performing hospitals will not receive the full annual increase.

More than 6,000 health care facilities are currently partnering with Press Ganey, and focusing on the quality of the care they give. All four of the health care facilities who have received the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award are Press Ganey clients.

The finding that hospitals can improve customer service and clinical quality gains even greater importance in light of the success CMS has seen in recent pay-for-performance pilot projects about which CMS administrator Dr. Mark McClellan commented, "We are seeing that pay-for-performance works. We are seeing increased quality of care for patients, which will mean fewer costly complications -- exactly what we should be paying for in Medicare."

The study concludes: "Healthcare quality professionals should be heartened by this study because their efforts contribute to both clinical and service quality. It is indeed possible for hospitals to excel in both areas of performance simultaneously."

About Press Ganey Associates

With more than 6,000 clients nationwide, Press Ganey is the leader in health care satisfaction measurement and improvement. For over 20 years, Press Ganey has been committed to providing insightful information that allows their client facilities to continuously improve. The foundation for Press Ganey's success is built upon dedication to scientific integrity, relentless responsiveness to their clients' changing requirements, and an overall passion for helping their clients succeed. By pursuing and acting upon input from their clients, they are consistently able to develop and deliver the newest innovations. The research is available for viewing at http://nahq.org/journal/online/1105/toc.html .

Press Ganey Associates

CONTACT: Martin Ma of Press Ganey Associates, +1-800-232-8032, ext. 428

Web site: http://www.pressganey.com/http://nahq.org/journal/online/1105/toc.html

Source: PRNewswire

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