Earlier this month, CMS submitted a formal request for information on tools that measure patients’ emergency department (ED) experience. 
The agency will use the information to create a patient experience survey that will evaluate adult ED patients’ communication with providers, pain control, and wait time. CMS has created and implemented similar surveys in hospitals, home health agencies, and with drug plans. “Having a rigorous, well-designed emergency department survey will allow us to understand patients’ perspectives on their experiences in emergency departments and how such experiences change over time. This information will ultimately be used to help improve the quality of care patients receive in emergency departments,” CMS said. CMS said it plans to use the data to “enable objective comparisons of emergency department experiences across the country.” It is possible that CMS will make the information publicly available, much like the agency’s Hospital Compare website. In the future, the agency could also develop a payment policy that penalizes facilities that perform poorly in certain metrics, a la the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program. However that is just speculation at this time.
The agency will use the information to create a patient experience survey that will evaluate adult ED patients’ communication with providers, pain control, and wait time. CMS has created and implemented similar surveys in hospitals, home health agencies, and with drug plans. “Having a rigorous, well-designed emergency department survey will allow us to understand patients’ perspectives on their experiences in emergency departments and how such experiences change over time. This information will ultimately be used to help improve the quality of care patients receive in emergency departments,” CMS said. CMS said it plans to use the data to “enable objective comparisons of emergency department experiences across the country.” It is possible that CMS will make the information publicly available, much like the agency’s Hospital Compare website. In the future, the agency could also develop a payment policy that penalizes facilities that perform poorly in certain metrics, a la the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program. However that is just speculation at this time.
