Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey response rates are significantly affected by patient characteristics and postoperative outcomes for patients undergoing primary total knee arthroplasty

INTRODUCTION: The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey measures patients’ satisfaction of their hospital experience. A minority of discharged patients return the survey. Underlying bias among who ultimately returns the survey (non-response bias) after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) may affect results of the survey. Thus, the objective of the current study is to assess the relationship between patient characteristics and postoperative outcomes on HCAHPS survey nonresponse. METHODS: All adult patients at a single institution undergoing inpatient, elective, primary TKA between February 2013 and May 2020 were selected for analysis. Following discharge, all patients had been mailed the HCAHPS survey. The primary outcome analyzed in the current study is survey return. Patient characteristics, surgical variables, and 30-day postoperative outcomes were analyzed. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify factors independently associated with return of the HCAHPS survey. RESULTS: Of 4,804 TKA patients identified, 1,498 (31.22%) returned HCAHPS surveys. On multivariate regression analyses controlling for patient factors, patients who did not return the survey were more likely to have a higher American Society of Anesthesia score (ASA score of 4 or higher, OR = 2.37; P<0.001), and be partially or totally dependent (OR = 2.37; P = 0.037). Similarly, patients who did not return the survey were more likely to have had a readmission (OR = 1.94; P<0.001), be discharged to a place other than home (OR = 1.52; P<0.001), or stay in the hospital for longer than 3 days (OR = 1.43; P = 0.004). DISCUSSION: Following TKA, HCAHPS survey response rate was only 31.22% and completion of the survey was associated with several demographic and postoperative variables. These findings suggest that HCAHPS survey results capture a non-representative fraction of the true TKA patient population. This bias is necessary to consider when using HCAHPS survey results as a metric for quality of healthcare and federal reimbursement rates.