Notice of the Kidney Disease Quality of Life Survey
folder_openOther Announcementscalendar_todayPosted January 22, 2016

The purpose of this e-mail message is to alert all ICH CAHPS Survey vendors that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is sponsoring a survey called the Kidney Disease Quality of Life (KDQoL) Survey for the Comprehensive End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Care (CEC) Initiative. The sample for this survey, which will be conducted twice each year, will consist of approximately 13,000 ESRD patients of facilities participating in the initiative. CMS’s contractor for that survey will begin data collection activities for the first semiannual survey in February 2016, and the second survey collection period will begin in April 2016.

Whereas the ICH CAHPS Survey collects data about the patients’ experience receiving hemodialysis care, the KDQoL Survey is designed to collect data from ESRD patients about how dialysis care makes them feel and how dialysis impacts their lives. Both surveys are important for helping CMS understand and improve dialysis care. Because a census of patients is selected each survey period on the ICH CAHPS Survey for some in-center hemodialysis (ICH) facilities, some hemodialysis patients might be included in both survey samples.

Even though data collection activities for the KDQoL will begin about a month before data collection for the 2016 ICH CAHPS Spring Survey begins, there might be some overlap in the data collection periods for the two surveys. ICH CAHPS Survey vendors should alert its survey staff, especially telephone interviewers, about the KDQoL Survey so that they can explain to patients who mention it that the two surveys are entirely different, but the patient’s participation in each is important.

ICH CAHPS Survey vendors should be prepared to answer questions about this other survey from sample patients and/or ICH facilities. We provide below a few frequently asked questions regarding the other survey for use by your customer service staff.

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

FAQs for Customer Service Staff

What is the Kidney Disease Quality of Life Survey?

The Kidney Disease Quality of Life Survey is a survey developed about 15 years ago to collect information about people with end stage renal disease. The survey is currently used by researchers and by dialysis organizations to understand how dialysis care affects the lives of people who rely on it. The more people who take the survey, the more Medicare will learn about the care you and other people with kidney disease receive and how to improve it.

What’s the purpose of the Kidney Disease Quality of Life Survey?

This survey will help Medicare learn more about how kidney disease affects your well-being. The more people who take the survey, the more Medicare will learn about the quality of life of people with End Stage Renal Disease, who require life sustaining kidney dialysis several times per week. It will also help Medicare understand how well health care providers are doing at meeting the needs of people with kidney disease.

How is this survey different from the Medicare In-Center Hemodialysis (aka ICH CAHPS) Survey?

Both surveys are overseen by the Medicare Program and focus on Medicare beneficiaries who receive dialysis. However, the two surveys serve different purposes. The Medicare In-Center Dialysis Survey asks about the dialysis care you receive at a dialysis center. The Kidney Disease Quality of Life Survey asks about how that care makes you feel and how it impacts your life. Both surveys are very important for helping the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the agency that runs the Medicare program, understand and improve dialysis care.