Preview Reports

HHCAHPS Preview Reports with results from the HHCAHPS Survey from Q1 2023 – Q4 2023 (January 2023 – December 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 July 2024.

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

Coordination Team Quarterly Review

The July 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 Q4 2023 response rates and tips for HHAs to increase survey response rates.

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

Home Health PPS Proposed Rule

The CY 2025 Home Health Prospective Payment System (PPS) Proposed Rule has been published on the Federal Register here. It is available for public comment until August 26, 2024. The rule includes the update that in 2023 CMS conducted a test of a shortened HHCAHPS Survey. Findings are currently being reviewed. CMS intends to propose the use of a shortened survey in future updates.

For additional information on the Proposed Rule, please refer to the CMS Fact Sheet.

Hospital Outpatient and Ambulatory Surgical Center PPS Proposed Rule

The CY 2025 Medicare Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (PPS) and Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment System Proposed Rule was released for public inspection and is available here. The rule proposes changes to the OQR measure set for CY 2027 and CY 2031, but OAS CAHPS measures are not impacted.

For additional information on the Proposed Rule, please refer to the CMS Fact Sheet.

ICH CAHPS Coordination Team Semi-Annual Review

The July 2024 edition of the ICH CAHPS Survey Coordination Team’s Semi-Annual Review (CSTAR) newsletter is available on the ICH CAHPS website under General Information. It contains important information including updates on results from the mode experiment that tested a shortened survey and the potential of using a web-based mode of survey administration, and information on the race question’s reordered response options.

Please contact the Coordination Team at ichcahps@rti.org or 866-245-8083 if you have any questions or would like additional information.

End-Stage Renal Disease PPS Proposed Rule

The Calendar Year 2025 End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Prospective Payment System (PPS) Proposed Rule has been published in the Federal Register. It is open for public comment until August 26, 2024. The proposed rule contains no direct impacts to the ICH CAHPS Survey but impacts performance standards for other measures. For additional information, please visit the Fact Sheet located in the CMS Newsroom.

Physician Fee Schedule Proposed Rule

CMS has released the 2025 Physician Fee Schedule Proposed Rule, which includes proposed changes to CAHPS for MIPS. Including:

• Seeking public comment on the potential of expanding the CAHPS for MIPS Survey from mail-phone administration to web-mail-phone.
  • The 2023 CAHPS for MIPS Web Mode Field Test showed increased response rates with web-mail-phone administration – 43% vs. a 28% response rate for those using only mail-phone
• Increasing from 5 to 8 eCSMs/Medicare CQMs between PY 2025 and PY 2028.

The complete Proposed Rule is available for review on the Federal Register here. It is expected to be published on July 31, 2024. For additional information, please refer to the CMS Fact Sheet.

Vendor Authorization

Shared Savings Program ACOs and participating MIPS clinician groups are required to authorize a survey vendor to administer the CAHPS for MIPS Survey each year, even if they have participated in the survey in the past. The vendor authorization tool will be available beginning August 6, 2024, and vendor authorization must be completed by September 11, 2024. Be on the lookout for additional information as the authorization window approaches!

In June, NRC Health hosted a live webcast about the 2025 HCAHPS changes. If you couldn’t join us live, don’t worry! Check out our new blog highlighting some of the best content and watch the recording on-demand to get the insights you need to navigate the coming changes.

NRC Health provided follow up materials, including answers to the frequently asked questions below.

Q & A

Q: What is the outreach schedule for a web-first methodology when a patient does not have an email address?
A: The first outreach the patient would receive would be the mail or phone follow-up. The outreach schedule for the mail or phone follow-up does not change if the patient has no email address.

Q: Can you tell me more about the phone outreach?
A: Phone outreach is conducted by a live telephone agent. Up to 5 phone call attempts will be made. Spanish speaking telephone agents are available for patients who prefer to complete the survey in Spanish. If a patient requests a specific time for a callback, we will accommodate that request.

Q: How long does a patient have to complete the email survey?
A: All HCAHPS surveys, regardless of mode, must be completed within 49 days from the start of outreach.

Q: Is there an option to text the web survey to patients?
A: Not at this time. Patients will receive the web survey via email.

Q: Will there be an additional cost for web surveys?
A: If you add the web survey component to the current methodology you are using, there will be no cost increase.

Q: When will NRC release their benchmarks?
A: NRC updates our benchmarks quarterly. Once we field for a full quarter with these questions, the benchmarks will be updated accordingly.