Using HCAHPS data to model correlates of medication understanding at hospital discharge

Abstract

Background: Hospitals are challenged to improve hospital transitions to home and are held accountable through public reporting. Design: This cross-sectional study used patients’ self-reported experience data from the publicly reported Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey to describe correlates of medication understanding at hospital discharge, using data collected from adult patients discharged from one Midwestern community hospital (N=154). Results: The final logistic regression model included four correlates of medication understanding: 1) nurse always communicates well, 2) physician always communicates well, 3) new prescriptions during hospital stay, and 4) very good or better mental health, and these classified 72.6% of the cases. Significant correlates of the patient strongly agreeing that they understood discharge medications were the "nurse always communicates well" (odds ratio =3.10, 95% confidence interval: 1.25, 7.66) and "very good or better self-perceived mental health" (odds ratio =2.17, 95% confidence interval: 1.02, 4.64). Conclusion: HCAHPS data can be used to model correlates of medication understanding, which are then useful for evaluating intervention effects following quality improvement.