Reminders about In-Center Hemodialysis Facility Participation in the ICH CAHPS Survey in CY2014 (Revised July 22, 2014)
folder_openFacility Participation Requirementscalendar_todayPosted June 13, 2014
Note that this announcement, which was originally posted on the ICH CAHPS Website on June 13, 2014, has been revised to indicate that ICH facilities that serve more than 30 survey-eligible patients in calendar year 2014 will be required to administer the ICH CAHPS Survey in calendar year 2014.
In-Center Hemodialysis Facility Registration for the CY2014 ICH CAHPS Survey
Closes on June 30, 2014
IMPORTANT : The information below is about preparing to administer the In-Center Hemodialysis CAHPS (ICH CAHPS) Survey in calendar year (CY2014). If your in-center hemodialysis (ICH) facility is part of a large dialysis organization, your facility’s corporate office may already be working with the ICH CAHPS Coordination Team to register all of its ICH facilities on the ICH CAHPS website and to fulfill other required functions for your facility. Please check with your corporate office to determine if you should register on the ICH CAHPS website, hire an approved survey vendor, or authorize a vendor for your facility. If your corporate office is performing some or all of these functions on your facility’s behalf, then the following might not be applicable to your facility.
The End Stage Renal Disease Prospective Payment System Final Rule for CY2014 requires each in-center hemodialysis (ICH) facility to contract with a CMS-approved survey vendor to administer the CY2014 ICH CAHPS Survey on its behalf if the facility has treated 30 or more hemodialysis patients meeting survey eligibility criteria. ICH facilities should look at the number of patients treated so far in CY2014 to determine whether they are required to administer the ICH CAHPS Survey in CY2014. If an ICH facility has any questions about whether it should be administering the CY2014 ICH CAHPS Survey, please send inquiries to the ICH CAHPS Coordination Team via e-mail at ichcahps@rti.org by 5:00 Eastern Time on June 26, 2014.
Upcoming Deadlines
ICH facilities that will be administering the CY2014 ICH CAHPS Survey must do the following:
· Register on the ICH CAHPS website no later than June 30, 2014. Instructions for completing the registration process are provided below.
· Select and contract with a CMS-approved ICH CAHPS Survey vendor to collect and submit ICH CAHPS Survey data to the ICH CAHPS Data Center. A list of the CMS-approved ICH CAHPS Survey vendors is available at https://ichcahps.org/GeneralInformation/ApprovedSurveyVendors.aspx.
· Note that contracting with (hiring) a survey vendor requires you to select a vendor from the list of CMS-approved ICH CAHPS vendors and establish a written contract indicating that the survey vendor will administer the survey on behalf of your facility. The Coordination Team cannot provide information about the costs of administering the ICH CAHPS Survey. However, we encourage facilities to contact and discuss the costs of the survey with a few of the vendors and choose a vendor that meets the facility's needs and cost expectations.
· After contracting with an ICH CAHPS Survey vendor, complete the online Authorize a Vendor form, which is available at https://ichcahps.org/ForFacilities/FacilityUserRegistration.aspx, no later than 5:00 PM on July 31, 2014. Note that you must not complete the online Authorize a Vendor form until after you have entered into a written contract with the survey vendor that you chose to administer the ICH CAHPS Survey on your facility's behalf.
Steps for ICH Facility Registration in the CY2014 ICH CAHPS Survey
The following are steps that ICH facilities must take to begin their participation in the national implementation of the ICH CAHPS Survey:
1. Designate a staff member to serve as your facility's ICH CAHPS Survey Administrator.
2. Complete the online ICH Facility User Registration Form to obtain user credentials to access the private links on the ICH CAHPS website.
3. When registering for credentials to access the private links on the ICH CAHPS website, the system will automatically generate a customized Consent Form for the ICH facility. Print, sign, and have the Consent Form notarized and mail it to the ICH CAHPS Coordination Team at the address that appears at the top of the form.
4. Contract with one of the CMS-approved ICH CAHPS Survey vendors to administer the ICH CAHPS Survey on behalf of your ICH facility.
5. After contracting with one of the CMS-approved ICH CAHPS Survey vendors, log into the ICH CAHPS website and complete the online "Authorize a Vendor Form," which authorizes the Data Center to accept ICH CAHPS Survey data from your contracted ICH CAHPS Survey vendor.
6. Check the ICH CAHPS website regularly for news and updates about the ICH CAHPS Survey and participation requirements.
If you have questions, please contact the ICH CAHPS Coordination Team via e-mail at ichcahps@rti.org or call the project's toll-free telephone number at 1-866-245-8083.