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HCAHPS

The national implementation of the CAHPS Hospital Survey (HCAHPS) commenced on October 1, 2006.  Approximately 2800 hospitals are now collecting HCAHPS survey data from their eligible discharges and will soon begin to submit data to CMS via QualityNet. HCAHPS is an HQA-endorsed measure.

Beginning with fiscal year 2008, there will be an additional incentive for eligible hospitals to participate in HCAHPS. Hospitals that are subject to IPPS payment provisions (RHQDAPU-eligible "subsection (d) hospitals") must meet the new reporting requirements in order to receive their full IPPS annual payment update (APU) for fiscal year 2008. IPPS hospitals that fail to report the required quality measures (which include the HCAHPS patient perspective survey) in a form and manner, and at a time, specified by the Secretary could, for FY 2008, receive an APU that is reduced by 2.0 percentage points. Non-IPPS hospitals can voluntarily participate in HCAHPS. However, neither participation nor non-participation in HCAHPS will affect the APU of non-IPPS hospitals.

In order to qualify for the full APU in FY2008, hospitals that are currently participating in HCAHPS by collecting survey data and submitting it to the QualityNet Clinical Warehouse should continue doing so throughout 2007. In addition, these hospitals must submit a Pledge form in Summer 2007 stating their intention to participate from July 2007 forward. More details pertaining to the Pledge form will be provided at a later date.

CMS is making every effort to ensure that all "subsection (d) hospitals" are aware of the next opportunity to join HCAHPS and the steps required to do so.

Hospitals may either self-administer the survey, or contract with an approved survey vendor to administer the survey on their behalf.

How hospitals can join HCAHPS in 2007:

  • Hospitals that are NOT currently participating in HCAHPS must take the following steps in order to join HCAHPS in July 2007, which will be the next and final opportunity to do so for the FY2008 APU period.

  • If a hospital intends to self-administer the HCAHPS survey, it must attend the Introduction to HCAHPS Training to be offered via Webinar, January 22-26, 2007. Online registration for the January training is now available on the HCAHPS website, http://www.hcahpsonline.org/. The registration period for this training will end on January 10, 2007. The requirements necessary for a hospital to self-administer the survey are listed in the HCAHPS Quality Assurance Guidelines, which is available at http://www.hcahpsonline.org/.

  • If a hospital chooses to contract with a vendor to administer the HCAHPS survey on its behalf, it must select an approved survey vendor from the list available on the HCAHPS website at http://www.hcahpsonline.org/. Hospitals that intend to contract with an approved survey vendor are encouraged to begin making arrangements soon.

  • *Please note: the survey vendors that are approved to administer HCAHPS may be different than the vendors that submit clinical data for hospitals.

  • Hospitals that contract with an approved survey vendor for HCAHPS are not required to attend the January 2007 Introduction to HCAHPS Training, but are encouraged to do so.

  • ALL hospitals that are self-administering the survey must attend HCAHPS Refresher Training, via Webinar, in May 2007.

  • ALL hospitals that intend to join HCAHPS in July 2007 must first participate in a Dry Run in March 2007. Information about the Dry Run can be found on the HCAHPS website, http://www.hcahpsonline.org/.

  • ALL hospitals that intend to join HCAHPS in July 2007 must submit Dry Run data from March 2007 to the QualityNet Exchange data warehouse by July 13, 2007.

  • ALL hospitals that intend to participate in HCAHPS in July 2007 must submit a Pledge form in Summer 2007 stating their intention to participate. The date the Pledge will be due will be announced later.

  • Finally, ALL hospitals that intend to join HCAHPS in July 2007 must administer the survey, collect and submit HCAHPS data on a continuous basis from July 1, 2007 forward.

Detailed information on the HCAHPS initiative, including a list of approved vendors, the file specifications, and data submission protocols is located on the website, http://www.hcahpsonline.org/.

To communicate with CMS staff about HCAHPS, please send an email to Hospitalcahps@cms.hhs.gov. For information and technical assistance, contact the Arizona QIO by e-mail at hcahps@azqio.sdps.org or call 1-888-884-4007.

CAHPS7 is a registered trademark of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, a U.S. Government agency.