Where states rank in physician, nursing communication: CMS 

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Louisiana has some of the highest scores in both physician and nurse communication while the District of Columbia has the lowest, CMS found.

The Patient survey (HCAHPS)-State database lists the state averages for the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey responses. It used survey data from October 2024 to September 2025 and was updated Aug. 13. 

Becker’s previously found the hospitals with five-star CMS ratings for nurse communication and physician communication. CMS does not use star ratings for states, instead collecting the percentage of patients who reported that physicians or nurses “always”, “usually” or “sometimes” or “never” communicated well. 

Here are the states with the percentage of patients that said physicians and nurses “always” communicated well.

State Nurses always communicated well Physicians always communicated well
Alabama 80% 82%
Alaska 81% 80%
Arizona 77% 76%
Arkansas 81% 82%
California 76% 76%
Colorado 80% 80%
Connecticut 78% 77%
Delaware 77% 76%
District of Columbia 72% 78%
Florida 76% 75%
Georgia 79% 79%
Hawaii 79% 80%
Idaho 82% 83%
Illinois 79% 79%
Indiana 80% 79%
Iowa 83% 82%
Kansas 83% 84%
Kentucky 82% 82%
Louisiana 84% 85%
Maine 83% 83%
Maryland 75% 77%
Massachusetts 79% 79%
Michigan 80% 78%
Minnesota 82% 82%
Mississippi 83% 84%
Missouri 79% 79%
Montana 82% 82%
Nebraska 84% 84%
Nevada 76% 74%
New Hampshire 82% 81%
New Jersey 76% 75%
New Mexico 78% 78%
New York 77% 77%
North Carolina 80% 81%
North Dakota 83% 84%
Ohio 81% 79%
Oklahoma 81% 81%
Oregon 81% 81%
Pennsylvania 81% 79%
Rhode Island 80% 79%
South Carolina 81% 81%
South Dakota 83% 85%
Tennessee 80% 81%
Texas 80% 80%
Utah 81% 82%
Vermont 83% 83%
Virginia 81% 80%
Washington 78% 79%
West Virginia 84% 82%
Wisconsin 83% 82%
Wyoming 82% 81%

The post Where states rank in physician, nursing communication: CMS  appeared first on Becker’s Hospital Review | Healthcare News & Analysis.

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