HCAHPS Scores - Cleanliness is a Matter Of Perception

While tending to his ailing father, Greg Hurtt noticed his dad had grown disoriented and clammy over the course of the morning. A check of his father’s blood pressure confirmed that something was wrong. Hurtt called 911.

When the paramedics arrived, Hurtt’s father had improved. But, given the man’s history, the paramedics decided he should be admitted into the hospital. Upon learning they were taking him to the hospital, the man pleaded and begged not to go.

While these feelings are not uncommon, for Hurtt’s dad, the negative feelings were elevated. During a recent stay in a rehab center, he contracted a near fatal infection. Since then, he has feared being admitted into any health care facility.  His impression of chaos and lack of cleanliness in the health care environment has clouded every experience.

A patient’s perspective is all-important.

In 2002, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services partnered with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to develop The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey.

The HCAHPS is designed to capture patients’ perceptions of the quality of their care while in a hospital or health care facility. Because of this nationally standardized survey, patients have an opportunity to compare hospitals in their area and choose where they will receive care based on a consistent quality ranking. What’s more, according to legislature enacted in 2010, the Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement monies a hospital receives are greatly impacted by HCAHPS scores.

Question #8 of the survey addresses cleanliness by asking, “During this hospital stay, how often were your room and bathroom kept clean?” While the bathroom floor may be cleaned regularly, the impression that it isn’t or hasn’t been cleaned effectively, especially when tile and grout are old and worn, can impact patients’ and their families’ points of view.

The SaniGLAZE system provided by Cubix, Inc. not only restores ceramic tile and grout surfaces to a like-new appearance, but also seals out impurities to prevent future contamination. Standard cleaning methods don’t remove impurities and odor-causing agents from porous grout, so no amount of mopping done will change the perception that the area is dirty. 

The bottom line is that clean and sanitary floors in a health care environment are not only what’s best for patients’ health, but can also help patients and their families feel comfortable in an otherwise stressful time.