Patient Experience Data Source

Patient experience indicators tell you how patients felt about the care they received at the hospital and if they would recommend the hospital.

Outstanding Patient Experience

The Healthgrades Outstanding Patient Experience Award™ recognizes hospitals that provide an overall outstanding patient experience. Healthgrades overall patient experience scoring methodology uses Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) patient survey data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

  • 2023: Patient experience surveys from HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) obtained from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021. Updated 3/14/2023.
  • 2022: Patient experience surveys from HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) obtained from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for July 1, 2020 through March 31, 2021. Updated: 6/21/2022.
  • 2021: Patient experience surveys from HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) obtained from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2019. Updated 5/11/2021.

About Patient Experience Measures

Patient experience measures tell you how patients felt about the care they received at the hospital. These measures are based the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey data. Healthgrades obtains this survey data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

Specifically, the HCAHPS survey asks respondents to rate hospital care based on whether or not the measured action took place, and if so, how frequently the patient perceived the action to take place.

Patients are invited to complete a 29-question survey within 48 hours to six weeks after leaving the hospital. The 32 questions are rolled up to provide 10 measures, which together provide a snapshot of each patient’s experience.

The HCAHPS survey questions focus on doctor and nurse communication, hospital cleanliness and noise levels, and medication and post-discharge care instructions. The questionnaire offers a view of a hospital’s commitment to quality patient care through the lens of a patient.

Patients indicate if they would recommend the hospital by choosing one of four options: definitely yes, probably yes, probably no, or definitely no. The percentage of patients who answered yes they would definitely recommend the hospital is compared to the national average of patients who also responded “definitely yes.”

Patients provide an overall rating using a scale of 1 to 10 from worst to best respectively. The percentage of patients who rated the hospital high (9 or 10) is compared to the national average of patients who rated their hospitals high.

For all other questions, patients answer questions with “never,” “sometimes,” “usually,” or “always.” The percentage of patients who answered “always” is compared to the national average of patients who responded “always.”

To review individual survey questions, please see Healthgrades Outstanding Patient Experience Award Methodology.

Date Last Updated: March 14, 2023