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.

Staff responsiveness to patients is one indicator of quality healthcare. A higher score may indicate that a hospital provides a higher level of patient care.

About this measure

The questions asked for this measure are: “During this hospital stay, after you pressed the call button, how often did you get help as soon as you wanted it?, … how often did you get help in getting to the bathroom or in using a bedpan as soon as you wanted?” Possible responses are Never, Sometimes, Usually, and Always. The measure reflects the percentage of respondents who answered Always to these questions.

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