ICH CAHPS Announcements

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Only One Week before the Deadline to submit the ICH CAHPS Vendor Facility Closing Attestation Form for the 2025 Spring Survey
Facility Participation RequirementsPosted February 21, 2025

This is a reminder that survey vendors must notify the Coordination Team of any authorized ICH facilities who have closed or will be closing before the 2025 Spring Survey data collection period by completing and submitting the online Vendor Facility Closing Attestation Form as soon as possible after learning of such closure(s), and no later than 5:00 PM Eastern Time on February 28, 2025.

Vendors can access the Vendor Facility Closing Attestation Form by logging into the website and choosing “Vendor Facility Closing Attestation” form, which is under the For Vendors tab at the top of the website’s home page. Once a Vendor Facility Closing Attestation Form is submitted by a survey vendor, an email will be sent to both the currently authorized vendor and the facility’s Survey Administrator to notify the facility that the vendor has submitted the form on the facility’s behalf. If a facility or vendor receives this email and feels that the form has been submitted in error, they should contact the Coordination Team immediately.

If a vendor learns that a facility has closed or will be closing after this deadline and will not participate in the 2025 Spring Survey, both the vendor and the facility should contact the Coordination Team immediately for guidance on next steps.

Please contact the ICH CAHPS Coordination Team at 1-866-245-8083 or via email at ichcahps@rti.org if you have any questions or need more information about the Vendor Facility Closing Attestation Form.

Reminder: The 2025 ICH CAHPS Survey Facility Non-Participation Form Deadline is February 28, 2025
Facility Participation RequirementsPosted February 21, 2025

Please note that the deadline for submitting the 2025 Facility Non-Participation Form for the ICH CAHPS Survey is 5:00 PM Eastern Time on February 28, 2025. To access this form, login to the website using your user credentials and choose “Facility Non-Participation Form” under the For Facilities menu.

As noted in an email message sent to in-center hemodialysis (ICH) facilities on January 6, 2025 and posted under the Quick Links menu on the ICH CAHPS website’s home page, all ICH facilities must determine whether they will be required to administer the ICH CAHPS Surveys in calendar year 2025 by counting the number of survey-eligible patients they served in 2024.

ICH facilities that determine that they are not required to administer the 2025 ICH CAHPS Surveys and those that choose not to administer the surveys must complete and submit the 2025 Facility Non-Participation Form on the website.

ICH facilities should please note the following:

The Facility Non-Participation Form is an annual form that is valid only for the year in which it was submitted. ICH facilities that submitted the Facility Non-Participation Form in 2024 must submit the 2025 Facility Non-Participation Form if they do not plan to administer the 2025 ICH CAHPS Spring and Fall Surveys.
Submission of the Facility Non-Participation Form only alerts the ICH CAHPS Coordination Team that the facility does not wish for a sample file to be provided to their authorized vendor for the current calendar year; it does not affect compliance, which is determined on an annual basis by the ESRD Quality Incentive Program (QIP) team.
Once the Facility Non-Participation Form is submitted, any existing vendor authorization for the submitted CCN(s) is removed from the ICH CAHPS website. This means that if at any point in the future the submitted CCN(s) wishes to participate in the ICH CAHPS Surveys, the designated ICH CAHPS Facility Survey Administrator will need to authorize a survey vendor for the CCN(s).
Facilities certified after December 31, 2024 are not required to complete and submit the online Facility Non-Participation Form, unless they are currently registered with an authorized vendor on the ICH CAHPS website.

Please contact the ICH CAHPS Coordination Team at 1-866-245-8083 or via email at ichcahps@rti.org if you have any questions or need more information about the Facility Non-Participation Form.

Only One Week before the Deadline to Authorize a Survey Vendor for the 2025 ICH CAHPS Spring Survey
Facility Participation RequirementsPosted February 21, 2025

This is a reminder that all in-center hemodialysis (ICH) facilities that are administering the ICH CAHPS Survey for the first time or are switching to a different ICH CAHPS Survey vendor to administer the 2025 ICH CAHPS Spring Survey must update their vendor authorization on the ICH CAHPS website by 5:00 PM Eastern Time on February 28, 2025. Please note you must update the online vendor authorization only if the following applies:

Your facility is participating in the ICH CAHPS Survey for the first time during the 2025 Spring Survey; OR
Your facility is switching to a different survey vendor to administer the 2025 ICH CAHPS Spring Survey; OR
Your facility entered the 2024 Fall Survey as the last survey period for which the vendor would administer the survey when you originally submitted the vendor authorization form.

If your organization will continue to use the same ICH CAHPS Survey vendor that was used to administer the 2024 ICH CAHPS Fall Survey, you do not need to update the online vendor authorization form.

If any of the above statements apply to your facility, you must update the online vendor authorization form for the 2025 ICH CAHPS Spring Survey on the ICH CAHPS website by the February 28, 2025 deadline. Please note that you must have a formal written contract with an approved ICH CAHPS Survey vendor before authorizing that vendor on the website.

ICH facilities that served 30 or more survey-eligible patients in calendar year 2024 must administer both the 2025 ICH CAHPS Spring and Fall Surveys to be compliant with the CMS quality reporting requirements. If the online vendor authorization form is not updated by the deadline, a sample will not be provided to a survey vendor, which means the 2025 Spring Survey cannot be administered.

The steps for authorizing a vendor on the ICH CAHPS website are as follows:

Log in to the ICH CAHPS website here.
From your personal dashboard, click “Authorize a Vendor.” The system will then take you to the Authorize a Vendor page.
From the “Select Action” drop-down list on the Authorize a Vendor page:
- If authorizing a vendor for the first time on the website: Select the “Select a vendor for the first time” option.
- If changing/switching to a different vendor: Select the “Switch to a different vendor” option.
Select the name of your survey vendor from the vendor drop-down list.
Select the Beginning Survey Period for your new vendor. In this instance, you would select "2025 Spring Survey."
Do not enter an end date for your survey vendor unless you know that you will not be using this vendor for the 2025 Fall Survey.
Select the CCN(s) of the ICH facility (or facilities) to which the authorization applies.
Click the “Submit” button.

Please note the following:

No changes to vendor authorizations will be accepted for the 2025 Spring Survey after 5:00 PM Eastern Time on February 28, 2025.
If a facility has closed or will be closing and knows it will not be participating in the 2025 Spring Survey, please request that your survey vendor submit a Vendor Facility Closing Attestation Form on the ICH CAHPS website by this February 28, 2025 deadline. This will ensure that a sample file will not be provided to the vendor for the upcoming survey period. Vendors are encouraged to confirm with their facility contacts prior to this deadline that the facility is open and operating as expected.

Please contact the ICH CAHPS Coordination Team at 1–866–245–8083 or via email at ichcahps@rti.org if you have any questions.

Training Materials for the 2025 ICH CAHPS Survey Vendor Update Training Session are Available
Training InformationPosted February 7, 2025

The training materials that will be used during the ICH CAHPS Survey Vendor Update Training Session that will be held from 2:00 to 3:30 PM ET on February 12, 2025, are available on the ICH CAHPS website at the following link:

Training Materials (ichcahps.org)

An email message containing instructions for connecting to the training session via Zoom is being sent to all registered attendees starting on February 5, 2025. Please contact the ICH CAHPS Coordination Team at ichcahps@rti.org if anyone registered for your organization does not receive this email message by COB Monday, February 10, 2025.

ICH CAHPS Survey Administration and Specifications Manual, Version 13.0
Changes to Protocols and GuidelinesPosted February 7, 2025

The In-Center Hemodialysis CAHPS (ICH CAHPS) Survey Administration and Specifications Manual, Version 13.0 is now available on the ICH CAHPS website in PDF format. The protocols and guidelines described in Version 13.0 of this manual are effective immediately and supersede those described in previous versions of the manual.

Please note: At the end of Chapter 1 is a “What’s New or Different?” section, which contains a list of the chapters in the manual where the major changes in survey protocols and materials are described.

Updated ICH CAHPS Survey protocols and procedures will be reviewed during the ICH CAHPS Survey Vendor Update Training session that will take place on Wednesday, February 12, 2025. A training agenda and the presentation slides for those training sessions will also be posted on the ICH CAHPS website prior to next week’s training session.

Please contact the ICH CAHPS Coordination Team via email at ichcahps@rti.org or call toll-free at 1-866-245-8083 if you have any questions.

Updated ICH CAHPS Survey Materials for the 2025 Spring Survey
Changes to Survey MaterialsPosted February 6, 2025

As was first announced and posted in December 2024 (Updated ICH CAHPS Survey Materials for the 2025 Spring Survey), the following ICH CAHPS Survey materials have been updated for the 2025 Spring Survey and have been posted on the ICH CAHPS website:

Materials posted to the “Survey Materials” page here:

Mail surveys in English, Spanish, Samoan, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese (5 mail surveys)
Telephone Scripts in English and Spanish (2 scripts)
Waiting Room FAQs in English, Spanish, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese (4 documents)
As a reminder, the following survey materials translated into Vietnamese were posted to the “Survey materials” page in December 2024:
- ICH CAHPS Cover Letters 1 and 2
- Mail Survey
- Supplemental Questions
- OMB Disclosure Notice
- Waiting Room FAQs

Materials posted under the “For Vendors” tab:

Minimum Business Requirements (MBRs)
Model Quality Assurance Plan (QAP)

Materials posted to the “Data Submission Resources” page here:

XML Data Layout File

These updated ICH CAHPS Survey materials will be discussed during the ICH CAHPS Survey Vendor Update Training session on Wednesday, February 12, 2025. A training agenda and the presentation slides for this training session will be posted on the website by 5:00 PM ET on Friday, February 7, 2025.

Please contact the ICH CAHPS Coordination Team via email at ichcahps@rti.org or call toll-free at 1-866-245-8083 if you have any questions.

Reminder of Upcoming Deadline for Submitting Facility-Specific Questions for the 2025 ICH CAHPS Spring Survey for Approval
Other AnnouncementsPosted February 3, 2025

This is a reminder that ICH CAHPS Survey vendors must submit all facility-specific questions that they plan to add to the 2025 ICH CAHPS Spring Survey to the Coordination Team for review and approval. If any of your ICH facility clients are planning to add any new facility-specific questions to the 2025 ICH CAHPS Spring Survey, please send those questions and their proposed placement to the Coordination Team via email at ichcahps@rti.org before 5:00 PM ET on February 7, 2025.

Please note that facility-specific questions that were approved by the Coordination Team for use in previous survey periods do not need to be approved again unless the question wording or response options have changed. If changes have been made, please submit the changes by the February 7^th deadline.

The Coordination Team will accept facility-specific questions for review after the February 7, 2025 deadline; however, approval of those questions may not be granted in time for the questions to be included in the 2025 Spring Survey. Survey vendors should work with their client ICH facilities to decide on the use of new facility-specific questions and submit the questions to the Coordination Team as soon as possible to avoid a delay in approval.

Please contact the Coordination Team via email at ichcahps@rti.org or by calling 1-888-245-8083 if you have any questions.

ICH CAHPS Coordination Team Semi-Annual Review (CTSAR) Newsletter – January 2025 Edition
Other AnnouncementsPosted January 22, 2025

The ICH CAHPS Team has published the January 2025 edition of the ICH CAHPS Coordination Team Semi-Annual Review (CTSAR). As a reminder, this newsletter is a way to provide in-center hemodialysis facilities and survey vendors with helpful ICH CAHPS information.

The CTSAR is posted on the ICH CAHPS website and updated every January and July. You can navigate to the January 2025 newsletter in the Quick Links box on the ICH CAHPS home page, under the General Information tab on the ICH CAHPS website, or you can click here to view it now.

The CTSAR does not replace any source of information currently on the ICH CAHPS website; instead, it highlights important information for readers prior to each survey period. We encourage you to visit the ICH CAHPS website for more information on the items mentioned in this newsletter. Please continue to monitor the ICH CAHPS website for updates and announcements.

Please contact the Coordination Team via email at ichcahps@rti.org or call 1-866-245-8083 if you have any questions or need more information.

Reminder: Only One Week before the Data Submission Deadline for the 2024 ICH CAHPS Fall Survey
Data SubmissionsPosted January 22, 2025

The deadline for submitting data files from the 2024 ICH CAHPS Fall Survey to the Data Center is at 5:00 PM Eastern Time on Wednesday, January 29, 2025, which is 1 week from today. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will not accept any data files after that date and time.

We strongly encourage vendors who have not submitted an XML file for any of their facility clients to begin submitting as soon as possible. Remember that vendors must submit their data files in time to correct and re-submit any files that do not pass the validation checks.

Please feel free to contact the ICH CAHPS Coordination Team via email at ichcahps@rti.org or call 1-866-245-8083 if you have any questions or need help with data submissions.

RTI International will be closed January 20, 2025
Other AnnouncementsPosted January 16, 2025

RTI International will be closed on January 20, 2025. The ICH CAHPS Coordination Team will respond to email and telephone inquiries that are received on that date after RTI re-opens on January 21, 2025.

Please contact the ICH CAHPS Coordination Team at 1-866-245-8083 or via email at ichcahps@rti.org if you have any questions.

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