Patients Give Rush University Medical Center High Marks In Overall Patient Satisfaction

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 25 Mar 2008 - 3:00 PDT

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Patients of Rush University Medical Center give the hospital very high marks in overall patient satisfaction in a national survey sponsored by the federal government. The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey will allow consumers to compare hospitals on important issues based on each hospital's own patients' perspectives of their care.

The survey found almost all patients, 96 percent, say they would "probably" or "definitely" recommend Rush. The number of patients who say they would definitely recommend Rush, 79 percent, is substantially higher than the national average of 67 percent and the Illinois average of 66 percent that the federal government released in January.

When asked to rate the hospital overall on a scale of 0 to 10, 72 percent of patients give Rush a "9" or "10" rating. This rating is substantially higher than the national average of 63 percent and the Illinois average of 62 percent reported by the federal government in January.

The first public reporting of HCAHPS results, which will encompass data from October 2006 through June 2007, will be posted on the Hospital Compare website http://www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov on March 28. Rush was unable to participate in the first voluntary survey group because the Medical Center was involved with the launch of its state-of-the-art electronic medical record system (Epic) during the survey period.

Rush began to participate starting in July 2007. The federal government will publish the 2007-2008 results from Rush and other hospitals on the Hospital Compare website one year from now. However, Rush fully supports making national patient survey data public and has elected to offer to the public its preliminary results at this time.

The HCAHPS survey reports on the patient experience with two "global" questions and eight other broad areas of care and service. The chart below contains the results based on 501 surveys by patients discharged from Rush between July 1, 2007 and January 31, 2008.

Global Items

Overall Rating 0-10 (% of patients that would rate the hospital a "9" or "10") - 72%
Willingness to recommend (% of patients that would definitely recommend the hospital to family and friends) - 79%

HCAHPS Composites

Communication with Nurses (% of patients reported that their nurse "Always" communicated well) - 77%
Communication with Doctors (% of patients reported that their doctor "Always" communicated well) - 77%
Responsiveness of Hospital Staff (% of patients reported that the hospital staff "Always" responded well) - 59%
Pain Management (% of patients reported that their pain was "Always" controlled well) - 70%
Communication About Medicines (% of patients reported that information about new medications was "Always" communicated well) - 54%

Hospital Environment Items

Cleanliness of Hospital Environment (% of patients reported that their rooms and baths were "Always" kept clean) - 60%
Quietness of Hospital Environment (% of patients reported that the area around their rooms was "Always" quiet at night) - 55%

Discharge Information Composite

Discharge Information (% of patients who reported they 'did' receive information at discharge related to assistance and symptoms to look for) - 84%

"Quality and patient experience are top priorities at Rush. We have multiple initiatives underway directed at finding ways to further improve our quality outcomes and the entire patient experience," said Dr. David Ansell, chief medical officer and vice president for hospital affairs.

Some of the new initiatives include: a "Patient Ambassador" program to improve responsiveness to patient concerns; a pilot program of hourly rounding on patients by nurses; a "silent" patient call button system and reduction of overhead pages to reduce noise. Rush is also beginning an initiative to improve critical care patient care communications.

In addition, Rush has improved the discharge planning process with a number of innovative programs including case manager preadmission phone calls to orthopedic patients to assess needs and develop plans for post-discharge and follow-up phone calls to "at risk" patients discharged to home. The new Epic system also allows staff to print discharge instructions on-demand in five languages.

"Rush is entering the second phase of a nine-year construction project that will thoroughly redefine campus buildings and technology, as well as many of the processes used to deliver patient care safely and efficiently," said Ansell. "Rush is using this opportunity to redesign all patient care processes to put the patient and family at the center of everything the Medical Center does."

Rush University Medical Center includes the 616-bed (staffed) hospital; the Johnston R. Bowman Health Center; and Rush University (Rush Medical College, College of Nursing, College of Health Sciences and the Graduate College). For the last three years, Rush has been named among an elite group of ten top performing academic medical centers for quality and safety in the University HealthSystem Consortium annual Quality and Accountability study. Rush is ranked among the best hospitals in 11 of 16 categories in the 2007 "America's Best Hospitals" issue of U.S. News and World Report magazine.

Rush University Medical Center