Stamford Hospital has received the 2014 Women’s Choice Award for being voted one of America’s Best Hospitals for Patient Experience by women. This distinction is the only award that identifies the country’s best healthcare institutions based on robust criteria that consider female patient satisfaction and what women say they want from a hospital including quality physician communications, responsiveness of nurses and support staff, cleanliness and trusted referrals from other women.
‘We’ve identified America’s Best Hospitals across our nation to help women make smart healthcare choices for themselves and their family members. Being treated with the proper level of care impacts one’s health, well-being and healing so it is critical for women to know those hospitals that have demonstrated the highest level of quality care to their patients, with a special focus on the female experience.” said Delia Passi, CEO and founder of WomenCertified®, home to the Women’s Choice Award, and former publisher of Working Woman and Working Mother magazines. “We’re putting the power of choice in the woman’s hands with the information to simplify her choice.”
Hospitals named as America’s Best are then invited to join an elite network of brands, across multiple industries, which carry the Women’s Choice Award, symbolizing their commitment to women.
“On behalf of all our physicians, nurses and staff at Stamford Hospital, we are proud to receive the Women’s Choice 100 Best Hospitals award for Patient Experience,” said Kathleen Silard, RN, Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer. “As a designated Planetree® institution, Stamford Hospital is committed to personalizing the hospital experience for patients and their families. Our approach treats the patient as a whole and is concerned with all of his or her needs – mental, emotional and physical. This award demonstrates that focusing on quality patient care and services is valued by our patients.”
Being named and recognized as a hospital of choice among women represents the strongest and most important consumer message in today’s healthcare marketplace considering that women account for 90% of all healthcare decisions for her and her family (American Academy of Family Physicians). When patients have a highly engaged, positive experience with their hospital, it’s a win-win situation. Hospital reputation is everything according to a study by the National Research Corporation Market Insights Survey, the largest healthcare consumer survey in the U.S.
“A woman expects more from a hospital experience and takes her role as the primary healthcare decision maker seriously,” Passi adds. “More than ever she is self-managing her care by choosing her hospital prior to choosing her doctors. This allows her more control over her hospital stay outcome based on the quality of care she can expect from a Women’s Choice Award hospital.”
The America’s 100 Best Hospitals scoring process is unique in that it is the only national list that focuses on female patient satisfaction. The process begins with scores derived for each hospital in the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) database. The score takes a subset of the questions HCAHPS uses that research and experience shows are more important to women than to men. Weight is applied to each of those questions to adjust for relative importance to arrive at a numerical score. Additionally, scoring incorporates WomenCertified’s in-depth research on customer satisfaction among women, including a joint study on customer satisfaction by gender conducted with the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. The scoring is totally objective and uniform. The best 100 scores in each of the four size categories determine the America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Outstanding Patient Experience award winners. The four size categories include hospitals with up to 100 beds, 101-250 beds, 251-400 beds, and 401-plus beds. WomenCertified accepts absolutely no payment in exchange for placement on the list.
“Recognizing the best hospitals nationwide that are women-friendly and align with women’s identified preferences is important to our mission, where women help other women with tough, consumer decisions,” Passi concludes. “Most importantly, when a woman sees the Women’s Choice Award at her local hospital, she’ll know the hospital values her experience as a critical component of her and her loved one’s care.”