Healthcare Complaints Analysis Tool
Healthcare Complaints Analysis Tool (HCAT) is a method for systematically analysing complaints, and grouping key insights reported within thousands of experiences reported by patients every year to healthcare institutions. The tool, which is free to use, allows staff to reliably determine the problems reported in complaints at three-levels of specificity; to grade their severity, the harm caused to patients, and where in the hospital system problems occurred.
How does HCAT coding work?
“Many of the organisations we work with spend significant resources ‘managing’ complaints, but recognise that they need to get better at learning from them. HCAT provides an evidence-based methodology, approach and system to facilitate this.”
Clinical Leadership, Southern Trust, Northern Ireland
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.
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.
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.
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.
This report should combine the high-level quantitative trends and benchmarking with in-depth qualitative analysis of the identified trends.
Research Evidence
Patient complaints in healthcare systems: a systematic review and coding taxonomy
Patient complaints have been identified as a valuable resource for monitoring and improving patient safety. This article critically reviews the literature on patient
The healthcare complaints analysis tool: development and reliability testing of a method for service monitoring and organisational learning
Letters of complaint written by patients and their advocates reporting poor healthcare experiences represent an under-used data source. The lack of a
Patient-Centered Insights: Using Health Care Complaints to Reveal Hot Spots and Blind Spots in Quality and Safety.
Health care complaints contain valuable data on quality and safety; however, there is no reliable method of analysis to unlock their potential. We demonstrate a method
Applications of HCAT
Healthcare Complaints Analysis Tool: reliability testing on a sample of Danish patient compensation claims
The study aim was to test the intra-assessor and interassessor reliability of the Healthcare Complaints Analysis Tool (HCAT) for categorising
The adaptation of the ‘Healthcare Complaints Analysis Tool’ for general practice
This study aimed to adapt a secondary care complaints analysis tool for use in general practice contexts and assess the validity,
Testing the Healthcare Complaints Analysis Tool in a Specialist Pediatric Hospital to Assess Potential Utility for Organizational Learning from Complaints
The importance of improving the analysis of complaints about poor healthcare experiences is recognized but often not addressed.
An analysis of complaints about hospital care in the Republic of Ireland
Patients and family members make complaints about their hospital care in order to express their dissatisfaction with the care received and prompt
24 Is it feasible to apply the healthcare complaints analysis framework to complex complaints in a paediatric setting?
The importance of improving the analysis of complaints about poor healthcare experiences is well recognised but often not addressed.
Comparison of complaints to the intensive care units and those to the general wards: an analysis using the Healthcare Complaint Analysis Tool in an academic medical center in Taiwan
The management of complaints in the setting of intensive care may provide opportunities to
understand patient and family experiences and needs.
Applications of HCAT
Healthcare Complaints Analysis Tool: reliability testing on a sample of Danish patient compensation claims
The study aim was to test the intra-assessor and interassessor reliability of the Healthcare Complaints Analysis Tool (HCAT) for categorising
The adaptation of the ‘Healthcare Complaints Analysis Tool’ for general practice
This study aimed to adapt a secondary care complaints analysis tool for use in general practice contexts and assess the validity,
Testing the Healthcare Complaints Analysis Tool in a Specialist Pediatric Hospital to Assess Potential Utility for Organizational Learning from Complaints
The importance of improving the analysis of complaints about poor healthcare experiences is recognized but often not addressed.
An analysis of complaints about hospital care in the Republic of Ireland
Patients and family members make complaints about their hospital care in order to express their dissatisfaction with the care received and prompt
24 Is it feasible to apply the healthcare complaints analysis framework to complex complaints in a paediatric setting?
The importance of improving the analysis of complaints about poor healthcare experiences is well recognised but often not addressed.
Comparison of complaints to the intensive care units and those to the general wards: an analysis using the Healthcare Complaint Analysis Tool in an academic medical center in Taiwan
The management of complaints in the setting of intensive care may provide opportunities to
understand patient and family experiences and needs.
Related Research Evidence
Online patient feedback as a safety valve: An automated language analysis of unnoticed and unresolved safety incidents
Alex Gillespie, Tom W Reader
Do national policies for complaint handling in English hospitals support quality improvement? Lessons from a case study
J Van Dael, TW Reader, AT Gillespie, L Freise, A Darzi, EK Mayer
Getting the whole story: Integrating patient complaints and staff reports of unsafe care
Jackie Van Dael, Alex Gillespie, Tom Reader, Katelyn Smalley, Dimitri Papadimitriou,
Ben Glampson, Daniel Marshall, Erik Mayer
Identifying and encouraging high-quality healthcare: an analysis of the content and aims of patient letters of compliment
Alex Gillespie, Tom W Reader
Learning from complaints in healthcare: a realist review of academic literature, policy evidence and front-line insights
Jackie van Dael1, Tom W Reader2, Alex Gillespie, Ana
Luisa Neves, Ara Darzi1, Erik K Mayer1
Stakeholders in Safety: Patient Reports on Unsafe Clinical Behaviors Distinguish Hospital Mortality Rates
Tom W. Reader, Alex Gillespie
Related Research Evidence
Online patient feedback as a safety valve: An automated language analysis of unnoticed and unresolved safety incidents
Alex Gillespie, Tom W Reader
Do national policies for complaint handling in English hospitals support quality improvement? Lessons from a case study
J Van Dael, TW Reader, AT Gillespie, L Freise, A Darzi, EK Mayer
Getting the whole story: Integrating patient complaints and staff reports of unsafe care
Jackie Van Dael, Alex Gillespie, Tom Reader, Katelyn Smalley, Dimitri Papadimitriou,
Ben Glampson, Daniel Marshall, Erik Mayer
Identifying and encouraging high-quality healthcare: an analysis of the content and aims of patient letters of compliment
Alex Gillespie, Tom W Reader
Learning from complaints in healthcare: a realist review of academic literature, policy evidence and front-line insights
Jackie van Dael1, Tom W Reader2, Alex Gillespie, Ana
Luisa Neves, Ara Darzi1, Erik K Mayer1
Stakeholders in Safety: Patient Reports on Unsafe Clinical Behaviors Distinguish Hospital Mortality Rates
Tom W. Reader, Alex Gillespie
“Complaints are often reviewed on an individual basis but we needed a strategy to collectively analyse several hundred narrative complaints received over 12 months. HCAT provided us with a free, user-friendly yet comprehensive method to categorise a vast quantity of narrative data in a systematic manner.”
Centre for Quality and Patient Safety Research, Deakin University, Australia.
“HCAT has proved to be a useful tool that has assisted us to better utilise complaints information to monitor and improve patient safety. Adding the HCAT dimension to our complaints analysis process has helped us identify where our systems and processes can be improved.”
Medical Project Manager, Southern Trust, Northern Ireland
HCAT Team
Dr Tom Reader
Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science (LSE)
Prof Alex Gillespie
Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science (LSE)
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