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Discharge Folders Can Help Improve HCAHPS Scores

Posted by Chris Higgins on Sat, Nov 30, 2013 @ 07:00 AM

Ryan sat still for a few moments after everyone else had left the meeting, happy for a bit of discharge folderssolitude after such intense discussion all morning. He snapped his laptop shut, still trying to absorb some of the statistics he'd made note of:

  • Almost $1 billion in Medicare payments tied to the quality of care provided to patients.

  • $227 million in fines against hospitals through Medicare's program to reduce re-admissions.

As the sound of his colleagues' voices echoed in the hall before fading away, Ryan gathered up his computer and notepad.

As the newest, and possibly youngest, member of the hospital's team charged with the task of reducing admissions and improving patient satisfaction, Ryan wanted to make his mark. He knew his boss had added him to the group not just to get him acquainted with some of the big issues the hospital faced, but because he expected him to come forward with some solutions.

After attending his first team meeting on what the hospital faced—medicare reimbursement levels put at risk and the potential for penalties—it became clear just how important patient satisfaction had become. If their Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems Survey (HCAHPS) scores and other metrics didn't start to show faster improvement, the hospital could be at risk of losing revenue.

Ryan knew most of the others in the group well enough to quickly realize he had the strongest background in marketing. Most of the suggestions he'd heard that morning centered on patient care in areas he would not engage in directly. But when the committee chair started talking about the HCAHPS survey section on the discharge process, an idea struck.

Ryan headed out of the room and back to his office where he pulled open the top drawer of the file cabinet in the corner of his small office. He pulled the near-empty folder from the drawer and sat down with it at his desk. He thumbed through the sparse contents: a discharge checklist, some mismatched and outdated pamphlets, a page of generic instructions with outdated contact information and some notes.transition folder

Ryan opened his laptop and went online to look at some options. As he pulled up a page showing samples of accordion folders, he was sure of the direction he wanted to go and snapped up the phone, punching in his boss' extension.

Two weeks later, Ryan took his place in front of the screen with the full attention of the committee members upon him. He cut through the first few slides on metrics the team already knew all too well. He then put up a slide showing how a professionally printed discharge folder addressed a number of issues that impact the very patient satisfaction factors Medicare is focused on. He had been careful to make the connection between features of the discharge kit and the relevant patient satisfaction data Medicare considered. He finished to a flurry of positive comments.

Ryan got approval to put the transition folder project on the fast track. Each week, he reported on the discharge kit and provided aggregate data on patient satisfaction and re-admission trends. In the months that followed, patient response to the discharge kit surpassed all expectations and became a valuable tool for the hospital to improve its HCAHPS score.

dataguide 3 ways discharge folders help reduce hospital readmissions

Topics: accordion folders, Transition Folder, discharge folders