HCAT is a free tool designed to systematically analyse patient complaints, categorising key insights from thousands of patient experiences reported annually. It allows healthcare staff to reliably identify problems at three levels of specificity, assess their severity, determine the harm caused to patients, and pinpoint where in the hospital system the issues occurred. This structured approach helps healthcare organisations visualise and address patient complaints effectively, fostering a culture of continuous improvement. 

How does HCAT coding work?

1. Identify the problem categories and assess severity.
2. Specify the stages of care at which the problems occurred.
3. Indicate the level of harm from the reported problem.
4. Provide descriptive information about the complaint.

Guide to HCAT 

Step 1: Read through the HCAT manual

The manual provides instructions on how to use the Healthcare Complaints Analysis Tool (HCAT) to analyse complaints from patients and families regarding poor healthcare experiences. 

Step 2: Use the online HCAT training to become familiar with how to apply the tool

Any person codifying complaints using the HCAT framework should do the training and periodic training refreshment is recommended to ensure that coders remain calibrated. 

Step 3: Analyse data codified using HCAT. There is an online tool that can help with graphing data 

We recommend a two step analysis: 

1. Quantitatively identify trends for in-depth analysis
2. Qualitatively analyse complaints associated with the identified trend.  

Step 4: Produce a report or dashboard that can inform learning. Here is an example report 

This report should combine the high-level quantitative trends and benchmarking with in-depth qualitative analysis of the identified trends. Download the report template (PDF).