Fort Harrison VA Medical Hospital Recognized with two Five-Star Ratings by Becker’s Hospital Review

Montana VA Health Care System prides itself on providing Veterans with the best healthcare experience possible. Montana Veterans deserve nothing less than the best, and this mission was highlighted by two Becker’s Healthcare Hospital Review five-star ratings for the Fort Harrison VA Medical Center’s physician communication with Veteran patients (announced July 17), and a second five-star rating on staff responsiveness (announced July 28).

Becker’s Healthcare compiles a list of the best hospitals for patient experience across the country using the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) scores from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

Becker’s Healthcare gave the Fort Harrison VA Medical Center a five-star Patient Experience rating based on how well patients feel that their physicians explained things clearly, listened carefully to them, and treated them with courtesy and respect. Fort Harrison was one of six Montana hospitals to receive a five-star rating for physician communications.

Fort Harrison VA Medical Center was also recognized with a five-star staff responsiveness rating. The staff responsiveness star rating combines data from two HCAHPS survey questions and summarizes how quickly patients felt they received help after pressing the call button or asking for help to use the restroom or a bedpan.

“Montana VA has one focus every day – Montana Veterans. It is our duty to ensure Veterans receive accurate, easy-to-understand information so that they can fully engage with their health and wellness. Knowledge and understanding, alongside the trust that your team is always standing by and ready to act, are powerful tools to healing,” said Montana VA’s Acting Executive Director, Mr. Duane B. Gill. “These two five-star ratings from Montana’s Veterans are the greatest thank you a team can receive.”

The CMS along with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) developed the HCAHPS survey to provide a standardized way to collect data about a patient’s perspectives on their hospital care. The survey is administered to random patients in the medical, surgical or maternity service lines after discharge continuously throughout the year. Patients are questioned in 10 different areas of patient experiences including nurse communication, responsiveness of hospital staff, communication about medications, cleanliness of hospital and their willingness to recommend that hospital to others.

The primary purpose of the Patient Experience rating is to make it easier for patients to use the information to spotlight excellence in healthcare quality and compare hospitals. All short-term, acute care, and non-specialty hospitals, are able to participate in the HCAHPS Survey. Over 4,000 hospitals currently participate.

Montana VA serves over 47,000 enrolled Veterans across Montana—an area roughly 147,000 square miles in size. Veterans are cared for by 1,500 staff at 18 sites of care across the state.  One third of Montana VA employees are Veterans.  

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Matthew Rosine, Public Affairs Specialist

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Katie (Catherine) Beall, VISN-19 Newsroom Chief

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