June 21, 2022 – Healthgrades, the #1 website Americans use to find care, today announced the recipients of the Healthgrades 2022 Outstanding Patient Experience Award™. For this annual analysis, Healthgrades evaluated 3,173 hospitals* and this year’s awards recognize 399 hospitals, representing the top 15% across the nation, that prioritize and excel in providing a best-in-class experience for their patients.¹
Among this year’s Outstanding Patient Experience Award recipients are nine hospitals that improved patient experience across nine measures, and 130 recipients that improved across five or more measures. Hays Medical Center in Kansas and Penn Highlands Elk in Pennsylvania stand out among this year’s recipients as the only hospitals with patient experience gains across all 10 measures.
“It’s no surprise that patient experience in our healthcare systems has suffered due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so it’s exceptional that nearly 400 hospitals received top marks in patient experience,” said Brad Bowman, MD, Chief Medical Officer and Head of Data Science, Healthgrades. “We commend these hospitals for their ongoing commitment in keeping the patient experience front and center even through challenging times.”
Healthgrades evaluates performance by applying a scoring methodology to ten patient experience measures, using data collected from HCAHPS survey of the hospital’s own patients. Survey questions focus on patients’ perceptions of their care in the hospital, with topics including:
- Overall rating
- Recommendation to family and friends
- Communication with doctors
- Communication with nurses
- Responsiveness of hospital staff
- Communication about medicines
- Cleanliness
- Noise levels in patient rooms
- Discharge information
- Care transition
The measures also include whether a patient would recommend the hospital to friends or family and their overall rating of the hospital.
“Factors like cleanliness and responsiveness of staff are extremely important when it comes to the overall patient experience,” said Burt Kann, EVP and Head of Product at Healthgrades. “Our mission at Healthgrades is to provide patients with the information and tools they need in order to choose the right hospital and doctor for their needs.”