HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) is a national, standardized survey of hospital patients. HCAHPS (pronounced “H-caps”) was created to publicly report the patient’s perspective of hospital care. The survey asks a random sample of recently discharged patients about important aspects of their hospital experience.

The HCAHPS results posted on Hospital Compare allow consumers to make comparisons between hospitals, and to compare individual hospitals to state and national averages/benchmarks.

When patients are discharged from the hospital, there are often specific instructions they need to follow regarding things like medications, home care and follow up visits. Knowing and understanding these instructions is important for the patients’ recovery and general health. A higher score may indicate that a hospital provides a higher level of care.

About this measure

The questions asked for this measure are: “During this hospital stay…did hospital staff talk with you about whether you would have the help you needed when you left the hospital? , and did you get information in writing about what symptoms or health problems to look out for after you left the hospital?” Possible responses are Yes and No. The measure reflects the percentage of respondents who answered Yes to these questions.

Note: In this measure, a higher number is better.