Maine Hospitals Are Stars

Eighty-five percent of Maine hospitals earned either four or five stars in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services first HCAHPS star rating--the highest percentage in the country. Maine hospitals also tied for the highest average number of stars.

No Maine hospital earned below three stars. 

HCAHPS stands for Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems.  It is the first national, standardized, publicly reported survey of patients' perspectives of hospitalcare. HCAHPS (pronounced “H-caps”) is a 32-item survey instrument and data collection methodology for measuring patients’ perceptions of their hospital experience.

The HCAHPS Survey asks recently discharged patients about aspects of their hospital experience.  The core of the survey contains 21 items that ask “how often” or whether patients experienced a critical aspect of hospital care, rather than whether they were “satisfied” with their care. Also included in the survey are four screener items that direct patients to relevant questions, five items to adjust for the mix of patients across hospitals, and two items that support Congressionally-mandated reports. Hospitals may add supplemental items after the core HCAHPS items.

HCAHPS is administered to a random sample of adult inpatients between 48 hours and six weeks after discharge. Patients admitted in the medical, surgical and maternity care service lines are eligible for the survey; HCAHPS is not restricted to Medicare patients.

Eleven HCAHPS measures (seven summary measures, two individual items and two global items) are publicly reported on the Hospital Compare Web site, www.medicare.gov/hospitalcompare.

More information is also available at Kaiser Health News