On January 28th 2016, The Center For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) added patient satisfaction surveys (also known as Home Health CAHPS) to the Home Health Compare website. The addition means consumers will be able to read prior patient reviews when they use the Medicare website to find an agency.
Will the patient satisfaction surveys cause HHA stars to fall?
Not for most.
The chart below compares Patient survey results to Quality of patient care scores, as listed on Cipher Health’s blog:
The data show that home health agencies tend to perform far better in patient satisfaction than quality measures. So for the majority of agencies, the addition of patient satisfaction surveys to Home Health Compare will not harm Star Ratings. (Interestingly, the addition of HCAHPS negatively impacted hospital star ratings.)
Should agencies focus more on quality of care or patient satisfaction?
Agencies should focus on both.
The fact that so many agencies perform well in their patient satisfaction surveys means there is high competition. The star rating for an agency is subject to change quarterly, depending on how it compared to other agencies.
Read more on improving CAHPS score in our recent blog post “3 Steps to Improve Your Patient Satisfaction Survey (CAHPS) Scores”
You can also check out our webinar on quality care star ratings!
Further Resources
For more information about the Quality of Care Star Rating system:
An Introduction to the New Home Health Compare Star Ratings
Quality of Patient Care Star Rating FAQ
For general information on improving your Home Health Compare star ratings, here’s a good overview: www.homecareinstitute.com/star-program/.
