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Announcement

Clarification on the Appropriate Use of the ICH CAHPS Coordination Team’s Toll-Free Telephone Number
folder_openOther Announcementscalendar_todayPosted March 31, 2015

As noted in the e-mail message sent to ICH CAHPS Survey vendors on March 30, 2015, the Coordination Team’s toll-free number is mainly for use by ICH CAHPS Survey vendors and ICH facilities. However, the Coordination Team’s toll-free number appears in the following excerpt from the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) included in Appendix J of the ICH CAHPS Survey Administration and Specifications Manual, Version 3.0.

  • Is there a government agency that I can contact to find out more about this survey?
  • Yes, you can contact the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), a federal agency within the Department of Health and Human Services through the ICH CAHPS Technical Assistance telephone number at 1-866-245-8083 or by email at ichcahps@rti.org.

Note that it is acceptable for telephone interviewers and customer service staff to give the Coordination Team’s toll-free number to a sample patient, but ONLY if the sample patient or his/her relative wants or requires more detailed information about the survey than the vendor’s staff can provide. Vendor’s customer services and telephone interviewers, however, must first try to address all of a sample patient’s questions about the survey before referring the patient to the Coordination Team.

If sample patients call your organization with questions or complaints about Medicare benefits, payments, coverage issues or about the quality of hemodialysis care they receive, ICH CAHPS Survey vendors must provide the sample patient with Medicare’s toll-free helpline number (1-800-MEDICARE) and the toll-free telephone number of the ESRD Network that serves the area in which the sample patient lives. Please work with your customer support staff and telephone interviewers to make sure that they understand when it is acceptable to provide the Coordination Team’s toll-free telephone number to ICH CAHPS Sample patients.

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