The impact of system factors on patient perceptions of quality of care

Abstract

The Hospital Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) Program is a Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) initiative that rewards hospitals with incentive payments for the quality of care they provide to patients with Medicare instead of the quantity of procedures they perform. Although the VBP program has direct implications toward both patients and hospitals, no research has been reported in the literature addressing how hospitals can enhance patients' experience of care. This research uses systems modeling to improve the patient experience of care considering the eight dimensions in the Hospital VBP. A case study is presented that considers three intensive care units from a hospital located in central Texas. The simulation results show that strategies such as having a quick patient discharge process greatly benefit the hospital in terms of how patients perceive quality of care as measured by the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey.