West Virginia hospices’ consumer satisfaction scores ranked 6th in the nation last year. This is because all WV hospices work hard to ensure that each patient and family receives excellent care.
The Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPs) surveys are sent to families after a hospice patient dies. There are questions about whether the hospice was always respectful and whether there was a timely response when the family needed help. The survey also asks whether the patient’s pain and other symptoms were well managed and whether they would recommend this hospice. The surveys are sent out by an independent vendor that has to be approved by Medicare to ensure accurate reporting and comparisons. The average score in WV was 84.45% last year.
On August 8th2019, the Hospice Council of WV will welcome Dr. Jennifer Kennedy, the Senior Director of Regulatory and Quality for the National Hospice & Palliative Care Organization, to their quarterly meeting. Dr. Kennedy has spoken frequently at national conferences and many times before in West Virginia.
Dr. Kennedy will focus on quality reporting in her presentation as well as compliance. She will also share resources with West Virginia hospices. Hospices are now surveyed at least every three years to make sure their programs meet all regulations for safety and quality of care. Most of the problems found by surveyors are minor and a plan of correction is required if any deficiencies are found. West Virginia’s Office of Health Facility and Licensure has said that they don’t get many complaints, but all complaints are investigated. The majority are unsubstantiated.
There are 19 hospices in West Virginia. There are also many satellite offices in rural counties and hospice inpatient facilities in many cities. All are surveyed. West Virginians should be proud of the quality of hospice care and can find out more at https://hospicewv.org//services/hospice-compare/