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    LeConte Medical Center has been chosen to receive an Excellence in Patient Care award given by outcomes firm Studer Group^®. The hospital will receive the award—which will be presented at the 9^th annual What’s Right in Health Care^® conference—for its exemplary “doctor communication” ratings on the HCAHPS patient survey.

   HCAHPS, or Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems, is a national standardized survey tool used to measure adult inpatient perception of the quality of care they receive at a given acute care hospital.

   The 27-question survey was created in 2002 by the combined efforts of The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Scores are publicly posted four times a year at www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov.

  Studer Group^® gives its Excellence in Patient Care awards based on very high scores in each of the HCAHPS categories. LeConte Medical Center received its award in the “100-249 beds” category for having the best responses to HCAHPS questions regarding physician performance in the areas of courtesy, careful listening, and clear explanations.

   The What’s Right in Health Care^® conference will take place October 19-21, 2011, in Chicago, Illinois. It’s an acclaimed national conference during which the top healthcare organizations in the industry gather to share “best practices” with an audience of their peers.

   “The best hospitals focus on bringing physicians into their corporate culture,” says Quint Studer, founder of Studer Group^®. “It doesn’t just happen. Leaders have to work hard to make sure physicians, nurses, and other hospital staff all speak in one voice—and that patients understand and respond to that voice. And when a hospital can get this partnership right, the results are great clinical outcomes and satisfied patients.”