Improving HCAHPS Scores with SwipeSense

In hospitals, measuring patient experience is more than just collecting comments from a dusty suggestion box—it’s a critical metric tied directly to hospital reimbursement, reputation, and quality of care. This recognition of patient perspectives as vital healthcare indicators led to the development of HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems), a standardized national survey that gives patients a voice in evaluating their hospital experience.

What is HCAHPS?

HCAHPS was developed in 2006 as a collaboration between the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). What started as a voluntary program soon became mandatory, with public reporting of results starting in 2008.

This initiative represented a significant shift in healthcare accountability—for the first time, hospitals would be measured not just on clinical outcomes but on patients’ subjective experiences. This change was driven by mounting evidence that patient perceptions strongly correlate with clinical quality and the growing recognition that patient-centered care leads to better health outcomes.

The HCAHPS survey consists of 29 questions that cover key aspects of the patient experience, including:

• Communication with doctors and nurses
• Responsiveness of hospital staff
• Hospital cleanliness and quietness
• Communication about medications
• Discharge information and care transitions
• Overall hospital rating and recommendation

These standardized surveys provide hospitals with actionable patient feedback while giving healthcare consumers reliable data for comparing facilities.

Why HCAHPS Matters

HCAHPS scores impact hospitals in several critical ways:

1. Financial Impact: Through CMS’s Hospital Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) program, up to 2% of Medicare reimbursements are tied to performance metrics, including HCAHPS scores.
2. Public Perception: Results are publicly reported on the Hospital Compare website, influencing patient choice and hospital reputation.
3. Competitive Differentiation: In crowded healthcare markets, HCAHPS scores can be a deciding factor for patients choosing where to receive care.
4. Quality Indicator: Research shows that higher HCAHPS scores correlate with lower readmission rates and better clinical outcomes.

How Operational Excellence Drives Patient Experience

SwipeSense’s impact on hospital operations creates a cascade of improvements that enhance patient experience and HCAHPS performance. By focusing on four key operational areas—hand hygiene compliance, asset management, nursing workflow optimization, and contact tracing—SwipeSense addresses the underlying factors that shape how patients perceive their care experience.

Here are a few powerful ways SwipeSense meaningfully influences HCAHPS scores:

Reducing Hospital-Acquired Infections (HAIs)

Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) directly impact factors like patient outcomes and length of stay. SwipeSense’s electronic hand hygiene monitoring system provides real-time compliance monitoring through electronic sensors that automatically capture hand hygiene events. This system delivers actionable, individual-level data that creates accountability and enables targeted coaching to improve hand hygiene practices—one of the most effective interventions for preventing infections.

Patients notice when staff consistently perform hand hygiene, which can positively influence their perception of hospital hygiene and safety standards. One study found that hospitals with higher cleanliness ratings on HCAHPS surveys had significantly lower rates of C. difficile infections. Another study showed that hospitals with better patient experience scores had fewer central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) in ICUs and other units. By improving hand hygiene compliance, SwipeSense can help hospitals address both the clinical reality of infection prevention and the patient perception factors that drive HCAHPS scores.

Increasing Staff Efficiency

Time pressure on clinical staff directly impacts patient experience across multiple HCAHPS domains. SwipeSense addresses this fundamental challenge through Asset Tracking that eliminates wasted time searching for equipment and Nursing Insights that optimize workflow patterns across the unit. By reclaiming this “lost time,” SwipeSense enables more meaningful patient interactions, less rushed explanations, and more attentive responses to patient needs.

The efficiency gains from SwipeSense can improve HCAHPS performance in both “Communication with Nurses” and “Responsiveness of Hospital Staff.” Asset Tracking allows nurses to quickly locate necessary equipment, reducing delays and frustration when responding to patient needs. Meanwhile, Nursing Insights promote practices like bedside shift reports and consistent hourly rounding, ensuring patients receive regular attention and clear communication about their care plans.

These improvements ensure patients feel heard and valued, with their needs addressed promptly, creating a care environment where meaningful nurse-patient relationships can flourish despite the demands of a busy hospital setting.

Enhancing Accountability and Consistency

Patient perceptions are heavily influenced by the consistency of care. SwipeSense creates accountability systems that drive consistency through actionable hand hygiene insights, strategic encouragement of nursing rounds, and equipment availability tracking that highlights resource allocation issues.

This data-driven approach enables leaders to identify and address performance outliers, recognize high performers, and implement targeted interventions. The result is a more standardized patient experience across all hospital units, with the most noticeable improvements occurring in traditionally lower-performing areas—creating a consistent level of excellence that patients can expect throughout their healthcare journey.

Bridging Technology and Patient Experience

By investing in SwipeSense technology, hospitals are making a strategic commitment to patient-centered care. This directly reduces HAIs (which cost facilities an average of $29,412 per case and increase readmission odds by 46.3%), while also creating downstream improvements in HCAHPS scores and overall quality metrics. As healthcare continues to evolve toward value-based care models where patient perception carries significant weight, technology solutions that address multiple operational challenges simultaneously offer the greatest value in today’s healthcare landscape.