Healthcare News of Note:  7 hospitals earn a Press Ganey award for outstanding nursing quality

• Seven hospitals were recognized for elevating nursing excellence and improving patient outcomes with Press Ganey’s National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators Award for Outstanding Nursing Quality.
• Only 48% of Americans rank the quality of U.S. healthcare as excellent or good, according to results of a Gallup Health and Healthcare survey.
• Nearly half of Americans are unsure as to whether medication abortion is legal in their state, including 41% of women ages 18 to 49.

Over the past few weeks, I have found these industry news stories that should be of interest to healthcare finance professionals.

1. 7 hospitals earn Press Ganey’s award for outstanding nursing quality

Seven hospitals — six in the U.S. and one in Abu Dhabi — were recognized for “elevating nursing excellence and improving patient outcomes” with the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators (NDNQI) Award for Outstanding Nursing Quality, according to Press Ganey’s awards announcement.

The hospitals honored with the NDNQI Award, which is one of several Press Ganey 2022 Human Experience Awards, are:

1. Banner Payson Medical Center, Payson, Arizona
2. Covenant Children’s Hospital, Lubbock, Texas
3. Craig Hospital, Englewood, Colorado
4. Michael E. DeBakey Veteran Affairs Medical Center, Houston
5. New England Baptist Hospital, Boston
6. Parkview Behavioral Health, Fort Wayne, Indiana
7. SEHA – Ghayathi Hospital, Abu Dhabi

Also announced were the winners of these Press Ganey awards:

The Guardian of Excellence Award recognizes organizations for performing in the top 5% for patient experience, employee engagement, physician engagement or clinical quality performance in a given year.

The Pinnacle of Excellence Award recognizes organizations for demonstrating excellence for a minimum of three consecutive years in several areas.

The HX23 Awards honor individuals based on input from their peers on how they are advancing the human experience of healthcare.

2. Less than half of Americans now view the quality of US healthcare as ‘excellent’ or ‘good’

Only 48% of Americans rate the quality of U.S. healthcare as “excellent” or “good,” according to a Jan. 19 Gallup News piece by Lydia Saad. The findings are based on results of Gallup’s annual Health and Healthcare survey, which was conducted Nov. 9-Dec. 2, 2022.

“The slight majority now rate healthcare quality as subpar,” with 31% giving it an “only fair” ranking and 21% describing it as “poor,” wrote Saad.

Two possible reasons for the drop in ratings

The 48% share is two percentage points lower than in 2021 and trails the average share, 55%, since 2001. Saad provides two reasons for the dip in Americans’ feelings about U.S. healthcare:

1. “Republicans’ positive ratings have been subdued since President Donald Trump left office,” with 56% of Republicans now rating healthcare quality as excellent or good compared with 69% in 2020.
2. “Since 2012, public satisfaction with healthcare has trended downward among middle-aged and younger adults, while remaining high among those 55 and older.” The author notes it isn’t clear “whether this change (seen across party lines) stems from rising healthcare costs for those not on Medicaid, perceived changes brought about by the ACA, or something else.”

HFMA insight

“While Americans’ views of U.S. healthcare quality appear to be at a low ebb, with only 48% rating it ‘excellent or good,’ interestingly, 72% of the same survey participants rated the quality of healthcare they personally receive as ‘excellent/good,’” said Andrew Donahue, HFMA’s director of healthcare finance policy.

“For now, it seems our local providers and health systems are meeting or exceeding consumer expectations despite national challenges,” added Donahue. “That’s the good news. The bad news is that the data shows confidence in the national healthcare system is eroding with each successive American generation.”

For more insight on these issues, see these HFMA resources:

• “Healthcare 2030: Future of Consumer Expectations,” one of eight reports in the Healthcare 2030 series.
•  “‘A just cause’: HFMA’s CEoH initiative addresses the factors that impede quality of health and raise healthcare costs,” which is an hfm magazine cover story.

3. Nearly half of Americans unsure if medication abortion is legal in their state, says KFF Health Tracking poll

“More than six months since the Supreme Court issued their Dobbs decision which overturned Roe v. Wade, there is widespread public confusion around the use of mifepristone, the medication abortion pill, and the legality of the medication in their state,” according to the latest KFF Health Tracking Poll.

Forty-five percent of respondents “report they are ‘unsure’ as to whether medication abortion is legal in their state, including 41% of women ages 18 to 49. In addition, one in eight adults (13%), including one in 10 women, living in states where abortion is currently banned incorrectly believe medication abortion is legal in their state,” wrote the authors.

Additional results of the tracking poll, conducted Jan. 17-24 among 1,234 adults online and by telephone, include:

• 39% of survey respondents, including 44% of women ages 18-49, are aware that in states where abortion is legal, a prescription is still required to get medication abortion. 
• 73% have not heard anything in the news about a recent FDA policy change allowing pharmacies that have been certified by the manufacturer to dispense mifepristone to patients who have a prescription.* 

*A pending Texas lawsuit could prohibit access in all 59 states to mifepristone, which is one of two prescription pills that when used together account for more than half of all U.S. abortions, according to a Feb. 20 article by Time.  A ruling is expected as soon as Feb. 24.