Trends in HCAHPS Survey Scores, 2008–2019

Abstract

Background: HCAHPS’ 2008 initial public reporting, 2012 inclusion in the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program (HVBP), and 2015 inclusion in Hospital Star Ratings were intended to improve patient experiences. Objectives: Characterize pre-COVID-19 (2008–2019) trends in hospital consumer assessment of healthcare providers and systems (HCAHPS) scores. Research Design: Describe HCAHPS score trends overall, by phase: (1) initial public reporting period (2008–2013), (2) first 2 years of HVBP (2013–2015), and (3) initial HCAHPS Star Ratings reporting (2015–2019); and by hospital characteristics (HCAHPS decile, ownership, size, teaching affiliation, and urban/rural). Subjects: A total of 3909 HCAHPS-participating US hospitals. Measures: HCAHPS summary score (HCAHPS-SS) and 9 measures. Results: The mean 2007–2019 HCAHPS-SS improvement in most-positive-category (“top-box”) responses was +5.2 percentage points/pp across all hospitals (where differences of 5pp, 3pp, and 1pp are “large,” “medium,” and “small”). Improvement rate was largest in phase 1 (+0.8/pp/year vs. +0.2pp/year and +0.1pp/year for phases 2 and 3, respectively). Improvement was largest for Overall Rating of Hospital (+8.5pp), Discharge Information (+7.3pp), and Nurse Communication (+6.5pp), smallest for Doctor Communication (+0.8pp). Some measures improved notably through phases 2 and 3 (Nurse Communication, Staff Responsiveness, Overall Rating of Hospital), but others slowed or reversed in Phase 3 (Communication about Medicines, Quietness). Bottom-decile hospitals improved more than other hospitals for all measures. Conclusions: All HCAHPS measures improved rapidly 2008–2013, especially among low-performing (bottom-decile) hospitals, narrowing the range of performance and improving scores overall. This initial improvement may reflect widespread, general quality improvement (QI) efforts in lower-performing hospitals. Subsequent slower improvement following the introduction of HVBP and Star Ratings may have reflected targeted, resource-intensive QI in higher-performing hospitals.