hiring for hcahps
DESCRIPTION
HCAHPS? The acronym HCAHPS (pronounced “H-caps”), short for the standardized consumer healthcare surveys launched by federal agencies, is a term that gets used every day within healthcare organizations. Find out how leading hospital organizations are using new tools to identify candidates with the “right stuff”TRANSCRIPT
Hiring for HCAHPSHow HR Can Influence Patient Satisfaction Scores
An eBook from
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FORWARDIncreasingly hospitals are hiring based on an employee’s proven ability to conform to, and deliver against, HCAHPS* standards. Through the following pages, our goal is to help you:
• Understand the aspects of HCAHPS that matter to human resources
• Learn how leading hospital organizations are using new tools to identify candidates with the “right stuff”
• Define your role in impacting patient satisfaction
* The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
Chapter 1: About HCAHPS
Chapter 2: Hiring to HCAHPS Standards
Chapter 3: How Human Resources Can Influence HCAHPS Scores
SkillSurvey: Leading The Way
References
About SkillSurvey
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THE RISE OF CONSUMER CHOICE
"In the push to bring more accountability and transparency to the U.S. healthcare system, federal and state government agencies, employer groups, and non-profit foundations are offering a growing range of data on hospital quality.
Much of the information comes from mining Medicare data and state records and surveying hospitals to come up with user-friendly databases to help consumers comparison-shop for care."
Introduction
“How to Choose a Hospital,” The Wall Street Journal, http://guides.wsj.com/health/doctors-and-hospitals/how-to-choose-a-hospital
Introduction
WHO IS THAT MASKED WOMAN?
Every candidate is, to some extent, an unknown entity. A bit of a gamble.
Yet you’ve got to “get beyond the mask” to figure out which candidates will help your hospital achieve its productivity and patient satisfaction goals. And there’s more riding on your ability to do so than ever before.
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Chapter 1: About HCAHPSChapter 1: About HCAHPS
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HCAHPS OVERVIEW
HCAHPS, (pronounced “H-caps”) the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems, is a standard survey instrument developed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to measure patient perception of the care they received.1
Chapter 1: About HCAHPS
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Chapter 1: About HCAHPS
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HCAHPS SURVEY COMPONENTS
The HCAHPS survey is 32 questions in length. It includes 21 care-focused questions, 4 screener questions and 7 demographic questions.2
It is administered by participating hospitals to a random sample of adult patients between 48 hours and 6 weeks after discharge.
Questions focus on topics that are important to patients and are easier for patients to “judge” than commenting directly on clinical quality. The survey asks patients to rate the frequency of events during their care by answering never, sometimes, usually or always.3
http://www.medicare.gov/hospitalcompare/Data/Overview.htmlhttp://www.hcahpsonline.org/home.aspx
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“Patients have options for where to go for their care, and they will choose the place that treats them as an individual with respect for them as a person.”
“Patient Experience Leadership Survey,” Healthleaders Media, http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/pdf/patient_experience/PatientExperienceLeadershipSurvey.pdf
REIMBURSEMENT RATES
Hospitals are rewarded based on how closely they follow best clinical practices and how well hospitals enhance patients’ experiences of care.
• HCAHPS/patient experience of care accounts for 30% of the calculation affecting payment.
• Medicare will steadily increase the portion of reimbursement allocated to performance and decrease the portion tied solely to productivity.
Chapter 1: About HCAHPS
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Chapter 1: About HCAHPS
WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PATIENT EXPERIENCE?
Topping the list: leaders, CEO, CNO, physicians, nurses, clinical staff, frontline staff
• Patients aren’t asked to rank HR and Recruiting managers but this doesn’t mean that you don’t have an impact on patient satisfaction. HR is the front line; it all starts with HR.
Chapter 2: Hiring to HCAHPS Standards
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THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO BE LEFT BEHIND:
… As educated patients research the qualifications of care providers through resources such the as the Hospital Compare website
… As Medicare reimbursement is predicated on HCAHPS scores and other quality indicators
… As private payers adopt a pay-for-performance approach following the lead of the CMS
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HOW HR INFLUENCES THE PATIENT EXPERIENCE
• Screens and assesses talent
• Hires top talent
• Evaluates and trains existing talent
The role of HR is inextricably linked to quality of care and patient perceptions. Attention should be paid to optimizing patient-experience quality measures.
Chapter 2: Hiring to HCAHPS Standards
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APPLYING THE HCAHPS FILTER TO HIRING DECISIONS
Hospitals eager to improve their HCAHPS scores frequently embark on major change management initiatives that include everything from staff education to new processes and procedures. Yet in addition to training people already employed, hospitals must also screen new candidates based on their ability to comply with the measures in the HCAHPS survey.
It is, by all accounts, preferable to hire people who already possess and exhibit the skills and traits needed, rather than to spend time and money training them once hired.
Chapter 2: Hiring to HCAHPS Standards
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HOW HR CAN INFLUENCE THE HCAHPS SCORE
�� Know what is measured
�� Know your scores – where to improve
�� Apply behavior evaluation into the hiring process
�� Use job-specific hiring surveys to measure candidates on the skills that are relevant to that position and to patient satisfaction
�� Communicate strategy upward, to peers, and to hiring managers
�� Monitor changes in scores
�� Communicate success
Chapter 2: Hiring to HCAHPS Standards
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TAKING A BEHAVIOR-CENTRIC APPROACH
So, how can hospitals assess an applicant’s competencies as they relate to HCAHPS, since such abilities and behaviors must be observed over time? It is finally possible by gathering candid feedback from people who’ve had an opportunity to observe the candidate in action: their managers, coworkers, and direct reports.
Chapter 2: Hiring to HCAHPS Standards
�� During this hospital stay, how often did nurses
LISTEN CAREFULLY TO YOU?
�� During this hospital stay, how often did nurses
EXPLAIN THINGS in a way you could understand?
�� During this hospital stay, how often did nurses
TREAT YOU WITH COURTESY AND RESPECT?
Chapter 3: How Human Resources Can Influence HCAHPS Scores
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TURN YOUR REFERENCE PROCESS INTO A PRE-HIRE ASSESSMENT
The single best predictor of future job performance is past job performance.
It’s about more accurately predicting job success. You can use a candidate’s past managers, coworkers and direct reports as rich data sources for assessment instead of simply ‘checkbox’ administrators. No one knows better how a person performs in a particular job than the people who have worked alongside that person in that job. So the findings from former coworkers aren’t just a great data source for any assessment process, they’re the best source of all.
Chapter 3: How Human Resources Can Influence HCAHPS Scores
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Chapter 3: How Human Resources Can Influence HCAHPS Scores
HOSPITALS USING PRE-HIRE REFERENCE ASSESSMENTS REPORT STRONG HCAHPS SCORES
Findings from a study of 272 hospitals, conducted by SkillSurvey, showed that hospitals using a pre-hire reference assessment solution in their recruitment process have statistically higher HCAHPS scores than other hospitals.
Patients at SkillSurvey customer hospitals responded more favorably on nine out of ten areas of patient satisfaction when compared to patients at similar hospitals not using SkillSurvey.
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SKILLSURVEY: LEADING THE WAYProviding the best patient experience has become a top priority among hospitals and healthcare systems due to increased pressure to improve HCAHPS scores. It’s been shown that an employee’s behaviors have a direct impact on patient satisfaction.
It is easier to hire someone who already possesses these behaviors, rather than having to teach them.
SkillSurvey’s Pre-Hire 360® reference assessment measures core competencies across a majority of clinical job families and captures the behavioral information on candidates that influences patient satisfaction.
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ABOUT SKILLSURVEYMore than 800 hospitals rely on SkillSurvey’s reference-assessment and sourcing solutions to screen job candidates for competencies, behaviors and values that support high-quality care.
Our healthcare client roster includes:
• Eight of the top 17 hospitals ranked in U.S. News & World Report’s Honor Roll
• Over 45 Magnet hospitals
• Seven of the top 11 children’s hospitals in the U.S.
• Over 50 teaching hospitals in the U.S.
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