When answering the federal patient satisfaction survey after a hospital stay, 99 percent of patients from Bigfork Valley Hospital say they would definitely recommend the hospital to family and friends.

That score put Bigfork Valley at the top of the nation, tied with a hospital in California.  Over 4,000 hospitals participated in the survey, coordinated by CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services).  The national average rating was 72 percent in the latest survey results, released in April and covering  the period July 1, 2015 through June 30, 2016 .

Within the state, Bigfork Valley scored at the top of 108 reporting hospitals in 6 of the 11 categories measuring patient perception of a hospital experience.  As well as definitely recommending the hospital, the other categories include patient communication with nurses, staff explaining about medications, quietness surrounding a hospital room, control of pain and rating a hospital 9 or 10 on a scale where 10 is high.

In the remaining five categories, Bigfork Valley ranked 2 or 3 in the state.

Star Ratings

In addition, where more than 100 responses are received during the survey year, CMS awards star ratings, from 1-5 stars out of 5 stars.  Reporting on star ratings began six quarters ago, and since that time, Bigfork Valley has received 5 star ratings in all eleven categories of patient satisfaction, plus the summary rating.  For the April release, only 188 hospitals nationwide received five stars in the summary rating.

“We’re very humbled and pleased that our patients rank us so highly for their experience while at Bigfork Valley,” said Aaron Saude, CEO, and Nancy Probst, CNO, in a joint email statement provided to Becker’s Hospital Review. “Our hospital vision is to provide the highest quality healthcare experience to every life we touch, and our excellent staff works every day to make that happen.”

Survey

The HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) survey, developed to help make the patient experience during a hospital stay transparent to consumers, was started over ten years ago and is managed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).  Sent to patients after discharge from a hospital, independent surveys measure such things as cleanliness, quietness, interaction with doctors and nurses, and more. The results are collected and sent directly to CMS where the figures are adjusted to compensate for such factors as hospital size.