HCAHPS is the barometer for understanding a patient’s hospital experience. But can you predict the outcome of your patient satisfaction surveys by reading online reviews from past and present patients? And more importantly, does improving your hospital’s online reputation improve HCAHPS scores?

Yes.

Reputation.com’s Data Science team, led by Brad Null, Ph.D, analyzed two years of HCAHPS hospital survey data from The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, across more than 4,800 hospitals.

The team reviewed the data alongside online reviews, ratings and rankings for those same hospitals, and made some significant discoveries:

• Online reviews provide early warning of issues that may impact patient experience, giving hospitals the opportunity to identify and address those issues before patient satisfaction scores suffer.
• By continually monitoring, managing, requesting and responding to patient reviews, a healthcare organization can address negative feedback that impacts HCAHPS results.
• Positive online sentiment predicts an increase in HCAHPS scores by as much as 17 percent, year-overyear.

This guide provides current market context, examines the details of the findings and provides recommendations for improving your organization’s online reputation — and with it, your HCAHPS scores.