(Press Ganey Associates Inc.: South Bend, Indiana) -- By analyzing patient satisfaction data representing 1.5 million patients and 1,158 hospitals across the nation from January 2007 through June 2008, Press Ganey Associates Inc. found a dramatic upturn in patient satisfaction, strengthening the link between public disclosure and health care quality.

Following the first public release of the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) data in March, a positive year-over-year increase in performance was seen in April. This further widened to statistically significant year-over-year increases for the months of May and June. These trends were noted for the percentage of patients rating their hospital as a 9 or 10, as well as the percentage of patients who said they would definitely recommend the facility, which directly affects a hospital’s patient volumes and its revenue.

According to Press Ganey, these trends represent the most positive service quality delivery in inpatient care that our nation has ever experienced. “We have always seen a slow and steady improvement in patient-centered care over the years," says Deirdre Mylod, M.D., vice president of acute services at Press Ganey. "The HCAHPS measures show a dramatic increase following the public reporting, which indicates that everyone really stepped up their efforts—and the results are astounding,”  “We were anticipating that there could be such improvements on the HCAHPS measures because we’ve noted significant year-over-year improvements each month of 2008 for important concept areas such as coordination of care, a key driver of HCAHPS results that is not included within the HCAHPS measure set.”

For further information, visit www.pressganey.com/cs/news_and_notes/news_archive_detail?pressrelease.id=514.

HCAHPS data is available on the Hospital Compare website, www.HospitalCompare.hhs.gov.