Most commonly known as hCAP, the HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) survey is a national, standardized, publicly reported survey of hospital patients’ perspectives on their hospital care.
First implemented by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in October 2006, the survey asks discharged patients 29 questions about their recent hospital stay, covering topics such as communication with nurses and doctors, the responsiveness of hospital staff, the cleanliness and quietness of the hospital environment, communication about medicines, discharge information, overall rating of the hospital, and whether they would recommend the hospital, according to CMS.
Because these scores cover many aspects of the patient’s stay and a whole host of staff members’ roles in that experience, hCAP scores are incredibly challenging to control but vital to the hospital’s reputation for patient care. They also can have significant implications on a facility’s financials—to the tune of millions of dollars in reimbursements. It’s understandable why healthcare systems constantly look for ways to improve their hCAP scores.
A Client Story
During a leadership meeting at a Rpharmy client health system, nurses expressed concern that their hCAP scores were taking a hit around patient education on new medications, according to our customer, the Vice President of Pharmacy.
Picture this: You're a nurse accessing the MAR and administering medication. You must also educate them on the common side effects and how to use the medication. Not only do you want to provide the patient with the most accurate and helpful care information, but you also know that this could impact your facility’s hCAP score. If this information is difficult or impossible to access or is incomplete, you could put the patient in danger and negatively impact the facility’s ability to receive necessary reimbursements.
Because hCap scores are a high priority, this Pharmacy VP immediately sought a solution. He was familiar with the healthcare system’s use of Rpharmy’s Formweb solution and sought out the Pharm.D and Formweb administrator to investigate whether Formweb could help make patient education easier and, therefore, improve their scores.
As an expert in drug information and with years of experience working with Formweb, the PharmD suggested creating a resource listing the top three side effects for the top 200 prescribed drugs using subscription drug information and the Physicians Desk Reference. She then asked the Rpharmy team if we could add this reference to their Formweb site, which we gladly did. This PharmD also wanted to allow any other Formweb users access to this valuable resource. The Top Side Effects list now exceeds more than 200 prescribed drugs and is now a staple feature within Formweb.
Access to the list of side effects within Formweb was so well received that the nurses asked for additional support to educate patients on new medications. They asked if we could also insert the patient education materials alongside the top three side effects information within Formweb.
Now, for all of the drugs on their top three side effects list, they also have a link to additional medication safety information that the nurses can access while speaking with the patient or administering the medication.
This particular Rpharmy client improved its hCAP scores and recouped $2 million in reimbursements by adding features to Formweb, a solution it had already implemented throughout the healthcare system.
I’m proud to say that their story of requesting a Formweb or Rhazdrugs feature and the Rpharmy team’s ability to deliver is not unique. We seek to solve our client’s most pressing patient and healthcare worker safety challenges. What are you facing today?
Check out our Safety First Blog to read more about our relationships with customers and how they leverage Formweb to reduce risk and improve patient safety.
