What is HCAHPS?

The HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) Survey, is a standardized survey instrument and data collection methodology that has been in use since 2006 to measure patients' perspectives of hospital care. The HCAHPS survey is administered to a random sample of adult patients across medical conditions between 48 hours and 6 weeks after discharge; the survey isn't restricted to Medicare beneficiaries. You can learn more here.

*CMS has created the HCAHPS Star Ratings in order to enable consumers to more quickly and easily assess the patient experience of care information that is provided on the Hospital Compare Web site. Star ratings also allow consumers to more easily compare hospitals.

** HCAHPS data is broken down into the following buckets; definitely recommend, probably recommend, probably not recommend, definitely not recommend.