Patients rate BAMC in top 10 percent of hospitals nationwide

Medical Center on Fort Sam Houston scored in the top 10 percent in the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems, or HCAHPS, a national survey for Overall hospital rating and recommend the hospital in the survey of military and civilian hospitals.

The survey reflects about 20,000 patient surveys completed between October and December 2015. Two other military hospitals, Fort Belvoir Community Hospital in Virginia and the Keesler Medical Center in Biloxi, Miss., also made the top 10 percent.

The HCAHPS survey is the first national, standardized, publicly reported survey of patients’ perspectives of hospital care.

It is a survey instrument and data collection methodology for measuring patients’ perceptions of their hospital experience.

While many hospitals have collected information on patient satisfaction for their own internal use, until HCAHPS there was no national standard for collecting and publicly reporting information about patient experience of care that allowed valid comparisons to be made across hospitals locally, regionally and nationally.

The HCAHPS survey asks discharged patients 27 questions about their recent hospital stay. The survey contains 18 core questions about critical aspects of patients’ hospital experiences, such as communication with nurses and doctors, the responsiveness of hospital staff, cleanliness and quietness of the hospital environment, pain management, communication about medicines, discharge information, overall rating of hospital and would they recommend the hospital.