HAMLET — A patient’s perception of his or her hospital experience is an important measure of overall quality of care. A national industry survey places Sandhills Regional Medical Center among the top hospitals in the region for patient satisfaction.
Sandhills Regional Medical Center’s high marks were received from the Federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid through its Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems scores. A score 79.1 out of 71.0 was received in overall rating of the hospital, a 86.5 in the area of doctor communication, and a 81.4 in the area of nurse communication.
These and other areas of hospital performance are reported to CMS as part of a national effort to enhance transparency in hospital data and demonstrate quality.
“Understanding what our patients perceive about their care is an important element of improving our day-to-day performance. We use the information from the HCAHPS survey to evaluate the care we provide and find ways to ensure we are addressing all of our patients’ needs,” explained hospital CEO David Clay.
HCAHPS (pronounced “H-caps”) is a survey process that measures patients’ perceptions of their hospital experience, then shares that information through a national public database, to help health care consumers make more informed decisions about their care. This data has been tracked since 2002, to make sure that hospital care is appropriate, timely and preventative. Every acute-care hospital in the United States participates in this public reporting process.
“We’re pleased that Sandhills Regional Medical Center ranks in the top hospitals locally, as well as on the national front,” says Clay. “We know that patients have more choices than ever before for their health care needs, and we’re pleased that Sandhills Regional continues to be the hometown hospital of choice.”
The HCAHPS program incentivizes hospitals to improve the quality of care and enhances accountability by publicly sharing hospital data about patients’ care experiences and other topics that matter most to health care consumers. The http://www.HospitalCompare.hhs.gov site enables patients to make objective, apples-to-apples comparisons of health care providers and choose the doctor or hospital best matches their needs.
“This data is also helpful to our hospital because it shows us how we compare against other hospitals in the state, region and nation,” said Clay. “High-quality, accessible and targeted health care services for the Rockingham and Hamlet communities — that’s what it’s all about.”
Wendy Wagner is director of marketing and physician liaison for Sandhills Regional Medical Center.