Hospitalized patients often struggle with sleep due to a variety of factors, like pain, noise, and medication changes. Yet rest is crucial to recovery, so it’s important to facilitate restfulness during hospitalization. It’s so important, in fact, that the new HCAHPS survey added two new questions asking specifically about rest.

Big changes came to the HCHAPS survey on January 1, 2025. You have probably heard the buzz about the new questions, but that isn’t the only update. The HCAHPS project team also made a number of administrative changes designed to make the survey more relevant and to help capture data from underrepresented groups. 

The healthcare landscape is constantly evolving, so it’s not surprising that CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) is changing the HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) survey to modernize it for 2025.

As a key part of the patient experience, and the focus of multiple HCAHPS questions, staff responsiveness can make or break the quality of a hospital stay. 

The impact of the patient experience in healthcare goes beyond HCAHPS scores. When patients have a good experience, they build relationships with the care team. They are more likely to be engaged in their health. They learn better and make healthy choices.

Regular rounding by nursing staff has long been a hospital best practice. Rounding anchors patients throughout their stay with a predictable routine and improved care. It also helps staff.