Maven Healthcare Challenge: Are patients satisfied with their care?

As the Data Analyst, I analyzed the Hospital Consumer Assessment Survey results from 2015-2023. The survey measures patients' perspectives on hospital care and creates incentives for hospitals to improve their quality of care.

The survey asks about patient satisfaction in a number of areas:

1. Discharge information
2. Communication with doctors
3. Communication with nurses
4. Cleanliness of hospital environment
5. Overall hospital rating
6. Willingness to recommend the hospital
7. Responsiveness of hospital staff
8. Communication about medicines
9. Quietness of the hospital environment
10. Care transition

Below are the questions I asked, and my initial analysis:

1. Have hospitals' HCAHPS scores improved over the past 9 years?

No. The nationwide average of top-box percentage has decreased from 2015-2023. In 2015, the average top-box percentage was 71%. In 2023, the average top-box percentage was 69%, a decrease of 2%.

If we look at the nationwide results for each question, we can see that patient satisfaction in ALL areas has decreased from 2015-2023, particularly during the COVID pandemic (2020 and later.)

2. Are there any specific areas where hospitals have made more progress than others? Yes. One major outlier is North Dakota, which has experienced an increase in satisfaction with quietness. In 2015, the average top box percentage for quietness was 62%. In 2023, it rose to 69%. This is a 7% increase!

3. Are there any major areas of opportunity remaining?

Yes! Specifically, Maine has experienced a dramatic DECREASE in scores for the cleanliness of the hospital environment. In 2015, Maine's cleanliness score was 81%. In 2023, Maine's cleanliness score sunk to 70%. (An 11% decrease.) Further follow-up is needed to determine the cause of this dramatic change.

When we look at the nationwide survey results, we see that satisfaction rates vary from question to question, ranging from 52% to 86%. Satisfaction was highest with discharge information (86.76%), communication with doctors (81.38%), and communication with nurses (80%).

Nationwide satisfaction rates were lowest for communication about medicines (64.83%), quietness of hospital environment (61.56%), and care transition (52.65%). Hospitals should look into which questions they specifically scored poorly on, and work to improve those areas.

4. What recommendations can you make to hospitals to help them further improve the patient experience?

• Hospitals should drill down into the specific questions for their state and see which were rated poorly. This will help them decide what to focus on -- cleanliness, communication about medicines, care transition, or quietness, etc.
• Learn from certain states who scored highly in categories - e.g. examine North Dakota's hospitals and what they did to improve quietness.
• Focus specifically on improving quietness and care transition, since those areas are poorly rated (nationally.)
• Increase survey responses by offering cash incentives for patients to fill them out.

Additional Notes: Below I have listed the 5 states with the highest average top box percentage scores, and the 5 states with the lowest average top box percentage scores. The states with the highest average top box percentage scores also have low population.

States with Highest Average Top Box Percentage Scores, and Population Size:

As you can see, the approx population for South Dakota is very low (896,581), and it also has a high satisfaction rate for hospital patients. We need further research to see if the lower population is a contributing factor for a high satisfaction rate. For example, if the state population is low, it could be that hospitals are less likely to be burdened with too many patients, and that it is easier to keep facilities clean and quiet.

The average approximate population for the highest-scoring states is: 3,193,494.

States with Lowest Average Top Box Percentage Scores, and Population Size:

In contrast, the approx populations of the lowest scoring states (including DC) are much higher. To calculate the population size of DC, I used the approximate population size of the DC metropolitan region, since the population of DC itself (705,749) does not accurately portray the number of people working in DC.

The average approximate population for the lowest-scoring states is 8,912,052.

Again, we need additional research to see whether the large population sizes of DC, New Jersey, and New York in particular make it harder for them to provide high-quality service to their hospital patients.