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CAHPS Insider: April 2024

Insights and Updates for Effective Compliance

Here is a recap of the latest news and updates to CAHPS in April 2024.
By Kayce Kovanda, Corporate Compliance Communication Manager, NRC Health.

HCAHPS

Preview Reports

HHCAHPS Preview Reports with results from the HHCAHPS Survey from Q4 2022 – Q3 2023 (October 2022 – September 2023), including Star Ratings, are available under the For HHAs tab on the HHCAHPS website. You must be logged on to view your report. These data will be displayed on Care Compare later in April 2024.

For additional information, please visit the Understanding the HHCAHPS Survey Preview Reports document on the HHCAHPS website.

Fact Sheet

CMS has released a one-page fact sheet for HHAs to provide to patients in their initial information package to make them aware of the survey and its importance. The fact sheet is available in English and Spanish on the HHCAHPS website. HHAs do not need approval from CMS to use the materials as long as no content is edited other than the specified fields.

Coordination Team Quarterly Review

The April 2024 HHCAHPS Coordination Team Quarterly Review (CTQR) newsletter has been published under the General Information tab on the HHCAHPS website. This quarter’s edition contains important information including frequently asked questions about public reporting and information about the 2026 annual payment update (APU) period.

Please reach out to the HHCAHPS Survey Coordination Team at hhcahps@rti.org or 866-354-0985 if you have any questions.

CAHPS Hospice

Proposed Rule

The CAHPS Hospice Survey Proposed Rule was published and contains proposals for important updates to the survey beginning with January 2025 decedents, including:

  • Changes to some survey questions – a comparison of the current and proposed survey measures can be found in Table 14, starting on page 79 of the Proposed Rule
  • Extending the data collection period from 42 to 49 days
  • Adding a web-mail mode that includes a web survey with mail follow-up to non-respondents
  • Adding a prenotification letter
  • Telephone-only is currently the reference mode for scoring adjustments. It is proposed to change the reference mode to mail-only

The Proposed Rule is available on the Federal Register here. It is open for public comment until May 28, 2024. For additional information, please reference the CMS Fact Sheet.

If you have any questions about the ICH CAHPS fielding, please contact the ICH CAHPS Survey Coordination Team at ichcahps@rti.org or 866-245-8083.

ICH CAHPS

Spring 2024 Fielding Schedule

The ICH CAHPS Spring 2024 fielding is about to begin. The schedule is available below.

Activity Date
Mail Prenotification Letter 4/19/2024
Mail 1st Survey (mail only and mixed mode)
Begin Telephone data collection (phone only)
5/3/2024
Mail 2nd Survey (mail only)
Begin phone follow-up (mixed mode)
5/31/2024
Data Collection Ends 7/12/2024
Data Submission Deadline 7/31/2024

PCF PECS

Vendor Authorization

The PCF PECS vendor authorization window is open for practice sites until June 14, 2024. A practice only needs to complete the authorization process if they are participating for the first time in PY 2024 or if they are switching vendors. Practices participating with the same vendor as PY 2023 do not need to update their authorization. Vendor authorization should be completed only after a practice has entered a contract with an approved survey vendor and executed a BAA.

For additional information, please refer to the links under “For Practices” on the PCF PECS website. If you have questions, please reach out to PCF Support at PCF@telligen.com or 888-517-7753.

CAHPS for MIPS

Registration Open Until July 1

The deadline for groups, virtual groups, and APM Entities (excluding MSSP ACOs) to register for the CAHPS for MIPS Survey for the 2024 performance year is July 1, 2024. Registration can be completed through the QPP website. For additional information, please visit the QPP How to Register for the CAHPS for MIPS Survey page here.

Please note MSSP ACOs are automatically registered to participate in the CAHPS for MIPS Survey and do not need to complete this process.

External Submission Deadlines

Q2 2023 Discharges Q3 2023 Discharges Q4 2023 Discharges Q1 2024 Discharges
HCAHPS 10/4/2023 1/3/2024 4/3/2024 7/3/2024
Premier 10/13/2023 1/12/2024 4/12/2024 7/23/2024
Vizient 10/12/2023 1/11/2024 4/11/2024 7/11/2024
HHCAHPS 10/19/2023 1/18/2024 4/18/2024 7/18/2024
CAHPS Hospice 11/8/2023 2/14/2024 5/8/2024 8/14/2024
OAS CAHPS 10/11/2023 1/10/2024 4/10/2024 7/10/2024
ICH CAHPS 1/31/2024 (Fall 2023) 7/31/2024 (Spring 2024)
PCF PECS 1/17/2025 (2024)
ACO REACH 1/13/2025 (2024)
CAHPS for MIPS 1/18/2024 (2023)
*Activity COMPLETE