ICH CAHPS Announcements

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Announcements

RTI International will be closed November 28 and 29, 2024
Other AnnouncementsPosted November 21, 2024

RTI International will have limited availability on November 27, 2024 and will be closed on November 28 and 29, 2024 for the Thanksgiving holiday. The ICH CAHPS Coordination Team will respond to email and telephone technical assistance inquiries that are received on these dates as soon as possible after RTI re-opens on December 2, 2024.

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

2025 ESRD Prospective Payment System Final Rule
Information for Dialysis FacilitiesPosted November 12, 2024

The ESRD Prospective Payment System (PPS) Final Rule for Calendar Year 2025, which was published in the Federal Register on November 12, 2024, is available here.

Tentative Data Collection Schedule for the 2025 ICH CAHPS Spring Survey
Other AnnouncementsPosted November 7, 2024

The tentative data collection schedule and the dates for some key activities related to the 2025 In-Center Hemodialysis CAHPS (ICH CAHPS) Spring Survey are shown below. Please note that these dates are subject to change. Should a schedule change occur, an announcement will be posted.

Activity	Date
2025 ICH CAHPS Survey Vendor Update Training Session	2/12/2025
2025 Introduction to the ICH CAHPS Survey Self-Administered Training	2/12/2025-2/19/2025
Submit New Facility-Specific Questions to CMS	2/7/2025
Deadline for Authorizing a Vendor for 2025 Spring Survey¹	2/28/2025
Deadline for Submitting a 2025 Facility Non-Participation Form²	2/28/2025
Deadline (for vendors) to submit Facility Closed Attestation form³	2/28/2025
Deadline (for vendors) to Review Vendor Authorization Report and Notify the Coordination Team of any Authorization Issues	3/3/2025
Deadline for Submitting the Updated Quality Assurance Plan	5/31/2025

Sampling Window	10/1/2024-12/31/2024
Sample Files Uploaded on ICH CAHPS Website	3/28/2025
Vendors Attest to Receipt of Sample File	4/1/2025
Mail Prenotification Letter	4/18/2025
Mail 1^st Survey Package (mail-only and mixed mode)/Begin Telephone data collection (phone-only)	5/2/2025
Mail 2^nd Survey Package (mail-only)/Begin Telephone follow-up (mixed mode)	5/30/2025
Data Collection Ends	7/11/2025
Vendors Clean/Process Final Data and Construct XML File	7/11/2025-7/30/2025
Deadline for Submitting XML Data File to ICH Data Center	7/30/2025

¹ Only ICH facilities that will be switching to a different survey vendor and those that will be participating in the ICH CAHPS Survey for the first time will need to complete the online vendor authorization form.
² The Facility Non-Participation Form is an annual form that is valid only for the year in which it was submitted and alerts the Coordination team that a sample file should not be provided for the facility for that year’s surveys. ICH facilities that submitted the 2024 Facility Non-Participation Form must submit the 2025 Facility Non-Participation Form if they do not plan to administer the 2025 ICH CAHPS Spring and Fall Surveys.
³ Submission of the Vendor Facility Closing Attestation Form alerts the Coordination Team that a sample file should not be provided for the facility for the upcoming ICH CAHPS Survey Period, due to the closing of the facility.

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 about the 2025 ICH CAHPS Spring Survey.

Patient-Mix Coefficients, Star Ratings, and Average State and National Scores for the ICH CAHPS Survey Results Publicly Reported in October 2024
Information for Dialysis FacilitiesPosted October 24, 2024

The ICH CAHPS Survey results that are currently posted on Care Compare on the Medicare.gov website (https://www.medicare.gov/care-compare/) are based on ICH CAHPS Survey data from the 2023 ICH CAHPS Spring and 2023 ICH CAHPS Fall Surveys.

Patient-Mix Coefficients and Star Ratings for the 2024 October Refresh

The results shown are statistically adjusted for both data collection mode and for patient-mix. Information about the adjustments made to the survey results and the coefficients used to adjust the results can be found here. Information presented in this document will allow ICH facilities to approximate the effect of patient-mix adjustment on their ICH CAHPS Survey results that were posted on Care Compare in October 2024. This document also includes additional information on the clustering method used to create ICH CAHPS Star Ratings (Appendix A).

Average State and National Scores for the 2024 October Refresh

In addition, you can click here to see the state and national averages for the three ICH CAHPS composite measures and the three global ratings based on the combined data from these two survey periods. The average response rate for each state and the overall response rate are also provided in this document.

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

Updated: ICH CAHPS Survey Response Rates by Mode and Race/Ethnicity
Other AnnouncementsPosted October 3, 2024

ICH CAHPS Response Rates by Mode and Race/Ethnicity

As part of our continued effort to evaluate ICH CAHPS Survey response rates, the document showing response rate information by race and Hispanic ethnicity for each data collection mode will be updated after each survey period. The updated document, now showing response rate information for the 2023 Fall and 2024 Spring Surveys, can be found here on the ICH CAHPS website. CMS strongly encourages ICH facilities to review and consider this information when determining which mode of data collection might be best for their dialysis patient population.

Request for Interest in Becoming an Approved ICH CAHPS Survey Vendor for 2025
Training InformationPosted September 20, 2024

Important Information for Survey Vendor Organizations Interested in Becoming an Approved ICH CAHPS Survey Vendor

***Any survey vendor organization, not already a CMS-approved survey vendor for ICH CAHPS, interested in applying to become an approved ICH CAHPS Survey vendor must notify the ICH CAHPS Coordination Team of their interest via email at ichcahps@rti.org no later than Friday, October 4, 2024.***

The ICH CAHPS Coordination Team is preparing for the semiannual ICH CAHPS Surveys that will be conducted in calendar year 2025. This will include accepting and processing applications from survey vendor organizations and training those survey vendors to become a CMS-approved ICH CAHPS Survey vendor; however, any interested survey vendor organization must notify us of their intent to submit an application by 5 PM ET on October 4, 2024. To become a CMS-approved ICH CAHPS Survey vendor, survey organizations must at a minimum:

complete and submit the ICH CAHPS Vendor Application via the ICH CAHPS website,
meet the minimum business requirements posted on the ICH CAHPS website,
participate in the self-administered Introduction to the ICH CAHPS Training,
complete a training certification after participating in the Introduction training, and
attend all vendor update training sessions.

The vendor application will be made available on the website in late October, depending on the response to this request for interest announcement. Survey organizations that submit an application for 2025, meet the requirements for becoming a CMS-approved ICH CAHPS Survey vendor, and receive final approval from CMS will be eligible to administer the survey beginning with the 2025 ICH CAHPS Fall Survey.

Please contact the Coordination Team via email at ichcahps@rti.org or call us toll-free telephone at 1-866-245-8083 if you have any questions about this request for interest.

Reminder: Deadline for Authorizing a Survey Vendor for the 2024 ICH CAHPS Fall Survey is August 31, 2024
Facility Participation RequirementsPosted August 30, 2024

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 2024 ICH CAHPS Fall Survey must update their vendor authorization on the ICH CAHPS website by 5:00 PM ET on August 31, 2024. 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 2024 Fall Survey; OR
Your facility is switching to a different survey vendor to administer the 2024 Fall Survey; OR
Your facility entered the 2024 Spring 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 Spring 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 2024 ICH CAHPS Fall Survey on the ICH CAHPS website by the August 31, 2024 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 2023 must administer both the 2024 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 (if needed based on above scenarios), a sample will not be provided to a survey vendor, which means the 2024 Fall 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 "2024 Fall 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 Spring 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 2024 Fall Survey after 5:00 PM ET on August 31, 2024.

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 2024 ICH CAHPS Surveys.

Reminder: Deadline for Submitting the ICH CAHPS Vendor Facility Closing Attestation Form for the 2024 Fall Survey is August 31, 2024
Facility Participation RequirementsPosted August 30, 2024

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 2024 Fall 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 ET on August 31, 2024.

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 Vendor Facility Closing Attestation 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 2024 Fall 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.

RTI International will be closed September 2, 2024
Other AnnouncementsPosted August 28, 2024

RTI International will be closed on September 2, 2024. The ICH CAHPS Coordination Team will respond to email and telephone technical assistance inquiries that are received on that date as soon as possible after RTI re-opens on September 3, 2024.

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

Only One Week before the Deadline to Submit the ICH CAHPS Vendor Facility Closing Attestation Form for the 2024 Fall Survey
Facility Participation RequirementsPosted August 23, 2024

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 Vendor Facility Closing Attestation 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.

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