Journal of Healthcare Management - January/February 2014 - (Page 31)

The Value of Patients' Handwritten Comments on HCAHPS Surveys John W. Huppertz, PhD, associate professor, Union Graduate College, Schenectady, New York, and Robert Smith, FACHE, vice president, Integration and Coordination, St. Peter's Health Partners, Troy, New York E x E C U t i V E S U M M a r Y Some patients write comments on their Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) surveys, but survey vendors do not record them, and the value of this anecdotal information is not well understood. However, many rating websites contain both numerical ratings and anecdotal comments from consumers who wish to share their experiences, and the option to write comments enhances the appeal of these survey forums. Recent research shows that numerical ratings do not sufficiently capture the range of consumer experiences and that comments contain additional information that complements survey responses. In this study, we investigate the contribution of anecdotal comments on HCAHPS surveys to the prediction of two global outcome measures: overall hospital rating and intention to recommend. HCAHPS surveys were collected retrospectively from 589 inpatients at two community hospitals, whose answers to the HCAHPS questions plus any handwritten comments were entered into a database. Nearly 20% of the surveys contained at least one written comment. A content analysis was performed, and comments were classified as positive, negative, neutral, or mixed. Regression analyses showed that negative comments significantly affected patients' overall hospital rating with and intention to recommend the hospital. After adjusting for their quantitative ratings on the HCAHPS questions, we found that patients who wrote negative comments gave the hospitals significantly lower satisfaction and intention scores. Consistent with prior research, our study showed that the information contained in numerical HCAHPS composite measures was enhanced by patients' commentary. In addition, quantitative HCAHPS ratings appear to underestimate the feelings of people who write negative comments, validating practices at hospitals that use surveys containing negative anecdotes in quality improvement initiatives. For more information about the concepts in this article, contact Dr. Huppertz at huppertj@uniongraduatecollege.edu. 31

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Journal of Healthcare Management - January/February 2014

Journal of Healthcare Management - January/February 2014
Contents
Interview With Kenneth R. White, PhD, FACHE, Associate Dean for Strategic Partnerships and Innovation and the University of Virginia Medical Center Professor of Nursing, University of Virginia School of Nursing
Team-Based Care at Mayo Clinic: A Model for ACOs
The Management Springboard: Eight Ways to Launch Your Career as a Healthcare Leader
The Role of a Public–Private Partnership: Translating Science to Improve Cancer Care in the Community Donna M. O’Brien and Arnold D. Kaluzny
The Value of Patients’ Handwritten Comments on HCAHPS Surveys John W. Huppertz and Robert Smith
Can Inbound and Domestic Medical Tourism Improve Your Bottom Line? Identifying the Potential of a U.S. Tourism Market
Success Factors for Strategic Change Initiatives: A Qualitative Study of Healthcare Administrators’ Perspectives

Journal of Healthcare Management - January/February 2014