Why your CAHPS scores matter

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Did you know the 3 reasons your CAHPS scores really do matter?

The Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems ( CAHPS^® ) Home Health Care Survey, or HHCAHPS, launched in 2003 and is designed to measure the experiences of people receiving home health care from Medicare-certified home health care agencies.
Its purpose is to meet the following three broad goals:​

• Produce comparable data on the patient’s perspective that allows objective and meaningful comparisons between home health agencies on domains that are important to consumers.​
• Create incentives for agencies to improve their quality of care.​
• Enhance public accountability in health care by increasing the transparency of the quality of care provided in return for public investment.​

With national implementation starting in January 2015, the Hospice CAHPS Survey gathers information on the experiences of hospice patients and their informal caregivers’ perspectives of their loved ones’ care with hospice services. NHPCO reports that almost 2 million Americans are receiving hospice services annually.

So why the buzz around Home Health and Hospice CAHPS Surveys? Here are three reasons why this measurement tool matters:

It gives patients and families a voice.
Aging patients in this country is rapidly on the rise — and their expectations for quality care are also growing. These patients and their families expect a consumer experience in every aspect of their lives, and healthcare is no exception.

The ability to communicate in real-time, on a device of their choosing, will significantly impact the overall satisfaction of patients and their families. CAHPS surveys give them a voice to share that experience, which is important to consider especially with value-based purchasing (and its potential revenue adjustment of +/-5%) impacted by CAHPS scores.

It gives referring providers insight into your quality of care.
A key frustration among referring providers includes the lack of visibility into the patient care journey. In fact, 74% of referral sources would switch to a post-acute provider if they are able to interoperate with them more effectively. This shows that referral sources are going to choose providers who understand the importance of digital communication in home-based care.

When the right technology is in place, CAHPS scores reflect the value of digital communication, ultimately giving referral partners more insight into quality of care — and meeting their need for patient care visibility.

It can impact your business reputation.
Whether good or bad, the patient and family caregiver experience can make or break your business. And with the CAHPS Survey giving them a voice, your brand is reliant on positive feedback. In fact, Forbes reports that 90% of people are more likely to trust a recommended brand, even if the recommendation is from strangers.

Think of CAHPS surveys as word-of-mouth marketing. With the right digital tools that meet expectations of a consumer experience, satisfied patients and family caregivers will be essentially “recommending” your brand.

The impact on your agency is higher satisfaction and higher CAHPS scores, increased productivity, and reduced re-hospitalizations. Improving critical performance metrics will help you earn more referrals and increase revenue.