Compassion practices and HCAHPS: does rewarding and supporting workplace compassion influence patient perceptions?
OBJECTIVE
To examine the benefits of compassion practices on two indicators of patient perceptions of care quality-the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and systems (HCAHPS) overall hospital rating and likelihood of recommending.


METHODS
Two hundred sixty-nine nonfederal acute care U.S. hospitals.


METHODS
Cross-sectional study.


METHODS
Surveys collected from top-level hospital executives. Publicly reported HCAHPS data from October 2012 release.


RESULTS
Compassion practices, a measure of the extent to which a hospital rewards compassionate acts and compassionately supports its employees (e.g., compassionate employee awards, pastoral care for employees), is significantly and positively associated with hospital ratings and likelihood of recommending.


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings illustrate the benefits for patients of specific and actionable organizational practices that provide and reinforce compassion.
Department of Health Administration, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.
Laura E
LE
McClelland
Timothy J
TJ
Vogus
D001294:Attitude to Health; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009732:Nursing Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D015279:Organizational Culture; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D014481:United States; D017132:Workplace / Q000523:psychology*
Compassion practices; HCAHPS; management practices; patient perceptions of care; quality of care