Improve patient satisfaction scores to get the most out of your CMS reimbursement

Every healthcare provider will tell you that patients are customers, and customers can take their business elsewhere if they are unhappy about any aspect of their experience. To keep patients, and thus reimbursement, coming in the door, hospitals must focus on achieving strong patient satisfaction scores. Moreover, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) value-based ­purchasing program will incorporate Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Services (HCAHPS) scores into its inpatient prospective payment system starting in 2013, so there is no better time to hop on the patient satisfaction wagon.

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