Cleveland, OH -- (SBWire) -- 01/25/2016 --2015 ended with some interesting news as the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the approval of new CAHPS Surveys starting in 2016. The new surveys, called Outpatient & Ambulatory Surgery (AOS) CAHPS Surveys, will be administered to free-standing ambulatory surgery centers and Medicare certified hospital-based outpatient surgery departments.

The surveys will have thirty-seven questions that focus on finding out more about how the patients feel about their care experience. The questions will cover a wide variety of issues from cleanliness and privacy to more general topics like overall ratings and willingness to recommend. This information will be useful not only in forming a perception about the facility's ability to provide a positive patient experience, but also in identifying ways in which to improve performance. The facilities that participate in the surveys will be expected to set a minimum target of three hundred completed surveys per year.

Just as the HCAHPS survey did with hospitals, the new OAS CAHPS survey will serve to highlight the importance of patient satisfaction in free-standing ambulatory surgery centers and Medicare certified hospital-based outpatient surgery departments. The survey will be launched in 2016 on a voluntary basis, and national implementation will follow in 2017. According to Press Ganey estimation, facilities that start the survey measurements early are likely to outperform facilities that wait until the national implementation.

ImageFIRST Cleveland, a leading provider of healthcare laundry products from robes and linen to nurse uniforms and unisex medical scrubs in Cleveland, OH, is acutely aware of the importance of the patient experience, and has designed products specifically for the purpose of improving the patients' experience, in turn positively impacting their perception of a medical facility. For example, their Comfort Care Line of Premium Patient Gowns consists of luxurious, comfy gowns that can make a big difference in the comfort levels of patients. In fact, surveys demonstrate that investing in high-quality patient gowns can increase patients' favorable impression of a medical facility by more than forty percent.

A recent case study that ImageFIRST conducted with Eastside Medical was a perfect example of what high-quality laundry products can do to help with improving the patient experience. Eastside Medical is a 300-bed facility that stresses the importance of patient welfare and had worked hard to improve it, but was not aware of what a difference a change in patient robes and gowns can make. That's where ImageFIRST stepped in. Eastside Medical stopped working with their previous provider, whose garments had not only felt of low-quality, but also came with issues like ineffective inventory management, missing ties and poor quality assurance. Surveys made before and after the switch to the ImageFIRST Comfort Care line of gowns saw a staggering 500% increase in patients who reported a favorable impression with the facility.

Anyone interested in ImageFIRST Cleveland's Comfort Care line or other high-quality products from linen to scrubs uniforms in Cleveland, OH, is welcome to either visit the company's website for more information or to call them directly at 800-932-7472.

About ImageFIRST
Founded in 1967, ImageFIRST is the largest and fastest growing national linen rental and laundry service specializing in the outpatient medical market. ImageFIRST's 36 locations nationwide serve over 5,500 medical offices every week, providing linen, patient gowns, scrubs and much more while partnering with facilities to better manage linen inventory. With a customer retention rate of over 95%, ImageFIRST is dedicated to improving patient satisfaction through quality linens and remarkable service: their Comfort Care gowns product line increases patients' favorable perception of a facility by more than 50%.

To learn more about the ImageFIRST in Cleveland, OH, please visit their website at http://cleveland.imagefirst.com/.