Cleanliness of Hospital

What Are We Measuring?

Helpful Background: The HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) survey is the first national, standardized, publicly reported survey of a patient’s perspective of their hospital care. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) publishes participating hospitals' HCAHPS results on the Care Compare website (www.medicare.gov/care-compare) four times a year. Additional HCAHPS results can be found online at www.hcahpsonline.org. Hendricks participates in the HCAHPS program and conducts regular telephone surveys of our patients.

Why Are We Measuring It and How Is It Important to Patient Safety? Research from Press Ganey and Compass One Healthcare shows that patients’ perceptions of environmental factors during their hospital visit are highly correlated with specific safety, quality and experience outcomes. This is one key reason why we include this in our patient safety metrics.

How Are We Performing?

At Hendricks, we regularly measure and analyze our performance because it tells us what’s working well and where there are opportunities for improvement. Our ongoing results tracking provides evidence-based recommendations for our team to stay at the forefront of safe care. When viewing the chart below, it’s important to know that dates are based on the date the report was released to the public and actual outcome ranges vary. The graph below reflects data publicly released in January 2023 for a selected period of time. Learn more by visiting Medicare.gov Care Compare.

What Are We Doing to Improve?

• Consistently use a Seven-Step Cleaning Procedure in all hospital settings to clean and disinfect surfaces, remove trash and freshen linens
  • Disinfection products and processes are reviewed and approved by the Hendricks Infection Prevention and Control Committee
• Our Seven-Step Cleaning Procedure is enhanced in higher traffic or higher risk areas of our hospital with these tools:
  • Clorox Total 360 Electrostatic Disinfectant sprayer is used in areas such as patient waiting rooms where individuals are more likely to gather
  • Continuous ATP swab testing is used throughout our facilities to monitor the effectiveness of our cleaning
    • ATP stands for Adenosine Triphosphate, a molecule found in all living cells
    • Levels of ATP on a surface is an indicator of whether the environment has been properly cleaned or if further disinfection is needed
  • UV light technology is used in operating rooms and other areas for added level of disinfection assurance 
  • Environment of Care rounds are conducted regularly by Hendricks Risk Manager, Infection Preventionist and Support Services team leaders to inspect hospital settings for cleanliness
    • Rounding also provides a way to identify opportunities for improvement in our cleaning processes

Learn More

We encourage patients and family members to use many of the different resources available to compare and choose a hospital or healthcare provider. Examples include Medicare.gov Care Compare and Leapfrog Ratings as well as talking with your doctor.