Reaching for Excellence
Community Vision and Voices for Western New York Health Care
Measuring Performance
Responsiveness Of Hospital Staff
What This Indicator Measures
This indicator tracks the percentage of hospital patients in Western New York who reported they "always" received help quickly from hospital staff during their recent hospital stay.
Why This Measure Matters
When providers quickly respond to a patient's basic need for help or assistance in going to the bathroom, they are demonstrating compassion and respect for the patient. Some would say help with toileting is a matter of personal dignity. It is also an indicator of the degree to which hospitals are allocating available operational resources efficiently to cover patients' fundamental needs.
Learn how this indicator informs these WNY Health Care Priorities:
% of Hospital Reporting That They Always Received Help Quickly
Data Sources & Notes
This chart presents summary level results from the Hospital CAHPS survey collected between July 2007 and June 2008, as provided in the Hospital Compare database maintained by the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services.
This indicator is a composite that draws upon two survey questions: "During this hospital stay, after you pressed the call button, how often did you get help as soon as you wanted it?", and "How often did you get help in getting to the bathroom or in using a bedpan as soon as you wanted?" Possible responses to these questions were "always," "usually," "sometimes" and "never."
The Western New York average reflects a discharge-weighted average across all hospitals in the region, while the national and New York State averages are from Hospital Compare database. The average among the top 1% of hospitals in the nation is from "Why Not the Best?", a health care quality improvement tool of the Commonwealth Fund.
