The Sonographer’s Role in HCAHPS and Value-Based Purchasing

Abstract

Health care reimbursements are changing from a medical care-based scale to a pay-for-performance system. The Value-Based Purchasing Program uses clinical quality indicators along with the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey as part of an incentive program for hospitals to gain reimbursements based on the patient care experience. Although clinical quality indicators are often outside of a sonographer's scope of practice, several of the HCAHPS items are a routine part of a sonographer's daily duties, such as communication and responsiveness to the patient and cleanliness of the facility. Providing education concerning HCAHPS and Value-Based Purchasing to clinical sonographers, as well as student sonographers, will improve patient interactions and assist hospitals in gaining reimbursements.