Patient satisfaction surveys are a major component of the rating system on CMS’ Home Health Compare website. Considering that patients and families use this rating system to weigh their options for Medicare-certified home health agencies, improving responses on these patient surveys should be a top goal of every agency.
Fortunately, there are straightforward steps agencies can take to ensure that not only are their clients thrilled with the care they receive, they’re also more than willing to write glowing responses on their satisfaction survey.
But first, let’s dig into how patient surveys influence agency ratings on the Home Health Compare website.
The Home Health Compare website rates agencies on a five-star scale across care delivery, care outcomes, and the general patient experience. Ratings are objective and based on quantitative data compiled by CMS.
Data measuring the patient experience of care comes from the Home Health Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HHCAHPS) Survey. The 34 questions on the survey cover topics such as:
Clearly, simply delivering outstanding care isn’t enough for a high rating. Patients must be happy with their experiences as well. Incorporating the following low-tech, high-impact practices can set the stage for a better patient experience and higher satisfaction scores:
A 2015 study by Johns Hopkins of patient satisfaction around hospital care looked at how hospitals that perform well with patient satisfaction surveys function differently than hospitals with low satisfaction scores. It turns out that a key driver of patient satisfaction occurs when leadership teams and medical staff members collectively share a high priority on the needs of patients and their families.
“It may seem a simple thing,” states lead study author Hanan Aboumatar, M.D., M.P.H. “But if leaders and staff members don’t prioritize this commitment and link it to the greater mission, it becomes easier to lose sight of it in the hectic pace of hospital care.”
This is an important lesson for the home care industry as well. Patient-centered care starts at the top of the organization; if agency leaders want their caregivers to be more mindful of the needs of the patient, the leadership team must create the environment to make it happen.
In an age where daily life is increasingly digitized, sometimes the simplest things can have the biggest impact.
In other words, the caregiver’s role is not just about function; it’s also about purpose. Function describes the “what” of the job: setting reminders for medications, helping the patient go for a walk, making the patient a meal. Purpose, on the other hand, is so much bigger. Purpose involves remembering that patients are people too – people who may feel vulnerable or overwhelmed and desperately want to be treated with dignity and respect.
Home Care Pulse, which conducts satisfaction research for the home health industry, recently released a list of the top 10 patient complaints they encounter. While not every complaint is easily resolved – or even within the ability of the agency to resolve – understanding these hot-button issues can help agencies avoid them:
Many of these complaints can be averted with the right Care Delivery Management solution. Home care software that includes mobile apps for caregivers will facilitate communication between office staff and workers in the field and will ensure caregivers always have access to the most up-to-date schedules, care plans, and patient records.
For those issues that are out of the agency’s hands (such as overtime pay), it can help to be upfront with communication, so patients and families at least understand why a policy is in place.
Few things escalate a bad situation faster than a service provider who treats a complaint with disdain.
In his excellent Forbes article, Micah Solomon reminds readers that resolving patient issues means getting rid of defensiveness and, instead, knowing how to apologize when confronted by a patient or family member upset with what they perceive to be a service gaffe.
“Take your patient’s side in these situations,” he states, “Immediately and with empathy, regardless of what you think the ‘rational’ allocation of ‘blame’ should be.”
Sometimes, the right approach is as simple as listening to the complaint, paraphrasing it back to the patient or family member to ensure the staff member understands the situation, and empathizing. Statements like “No wonder you’re upset!” or “I’m so sorry that happened” can go a long way to diffuse the moment and put the patient or family member at ease.
Solomon suggests role-playing exercises with staff, so they can internalize this mindset and work together to build a blame-free environment.
Given the importance of the HHCAHPS Survey, some agencies may be tempted to sway their patients into providing positive responses. They should be careful to resist that urge, however.
The HHCAHPS guidance is quite clear on the need to keep surveys unbiased. Specifically, CMS states that agencies may not:
Agencies may inform patients they may receive a survey, but they may not single out patients when doing so; agencies must instead incorporate this into their communications with all patients.
Fortunately, the good news is that a solid, comprehensive approach to patient communication, employee engagement, and caregiver training should be enough to yield top-grade survey results. And the best news of all is that these steps can be implemented anywhere – no expensive resources required. All it takes is genuine commitment and a good dose of common sense.