Questions Raised During the 2017 ICH CAHPS Spring Survey Vendor Site Visits
folder_openOther Announcementscalendar_todayPosted August 17, 2017
In May and June 2017 the ICH CAHPS Coordination Team conducted site visits with some of the ICH CAHPS Survey vendors. Overall, the site visits went well, and both CMS and the Coordination Team appreciate the time and effort vendors put into preparing for the site visit.
A list of questions asked during the site visits and answers provided is included below for your reference. Please review the questions and answers and contact the ICH CAHPS Coordination Team via e-mail at ichcahps@rti.org or call (866) 245-8083 if you have any questions or need further clarification.
1. Is CMS considering administering the ICH CAHPS Survey by web/Internet?
A. At this time, CMS does not have any plans to administer the survey by web/Internet.
2. Would CMS permit the editing of the transition statement that appears above Q36 in the ICH CAHPS mail survey so that the vendor does not have to print the name of the ICH facility in that statement, as a cost-saving measure for vendors?
A. CMS does not plan to remove the requirement that the ICH facility’s name be printed in both Question 2 and the transition statement that appears above Q36 in ICH CAHPS Survey questionnaire. The facility name appears above Question 36 as an important reminder to sample patients that they are being asked about hemodialysis care received at the sample facility during the past 12 months and to answer the question about that facility even if they have not been a patient at that facility for the entire 12-month period.
3. Is CMS considering allowing proxy respondents on the ICH CAHPS Survey?
A. CMS is currently reviewing this request. The Coordination Team will alert ICH CAHPS Survey vendors via e-mail and post an announcement on the ICH CAHPS website if the current policy regarding using proxy respondents changes.
4. Is CMS considering shortening the length of the ICH CAHPS Survey questionnaire?
A. Within the next few months CMS and the Coordination Team will be conducting some analyses to determine which, if any, of the core CAHPS and noncore survey items are possible candidates for removal from the survey.
5. What options does a vendor have if it would like more time for data submission?
A. The vendor can submit an Exceptions Request Form (ERF) for approval to end data collection earlier than scheduled to allow more time for data processing and submission. The vendor must submit an ERF with this request well before the data submission deadline for each survey period. CMS will consider all such requests.
6. Some vendors stressed that the sample information received from CROWNWeb does not contain good quality telephone or mailing addresses. Even with asking facility clients for updated patient contact information and using commercial telephone number and mailing address update services, some vendors are still having issues with numerous bad addresses and phone numbers (including large numbers of disconnected phone numbers). Can CMS and the Coordination Team address the issue of facilities not updating CROWNWeb with good contact information for their patients?
A. CMS and the Coordination Team understand vendors’ frustration about this issue and confirm that vendors should continue using commercial address and telephone number update services and reaching out to facilities for updated contact information. CMS and the Coordination Team are investigating possible solutions for obtaining better contact information via the CROWNWeb system (i.e., possibility of having the ESRD networks send reminders to ICH facilities encouraging them to update patient contact information in CROWNWeb on a regular basis).
7. A vendor asked about the policy for allowing telephone interviewers to work from home or in a virtual call center to conduct telephone survey data collection activities with ICH CAHPS sample patients.
A. Coordination Team’s Answer/Response: The current policy for the ICH CAHPS Survey is that all data collection and processing activities must be conducted in a commercial office or work space. ICH CAHPS Survey vendors that are considering allowing telephone interviewers to conduct data collection activities from their homes or from a virtual call center are advised to submit an Exceptions Request Form (ERF) to the Coordination Team. On the ERF, the vendor must provide detailed information about its plans for data security and protection of personally identifying information and private health information. The vendor must also update its ICH CAHPS vendor application to provide detailed information about how it will manage work conducted by telephone interviewers working from home or a virtual call center, including how they will conduct quality control of work conducted by those telephone interviewers.
8. A vendor pointed out that on another CAHPS project the implementation contractor provides survey vendors with frequency reports to check disposition codes and question responses after XML submission. Has the Coordination Team considered providing this type of report to ICH CAHPS Survey vendors?
A. On site visits, the Coordination Team shares with each vendor a report that shows the distribution of the final disposition codes assigned to the vendor’s sampled cases in the preceding survey period. However, we do not provide this type of information immediately after data files are submitted. Beginning with the 2017 Spring Survey, we will provide each vendor with a report that will show the distribution of the disposition codes for each of the vendor’s facility clients and the distribution of final disposition codes at the national level. This report will be sent via e-mail to each survey vendor approximately 7 weeks after the data submission deadline.
9. What does a vendor need to do if it wants to begin using one or two of the data collection modes for which it is not already approved?
A. Survey vendors must obtain approval from the Coordination Team for each data collection mode that they plan to use on the ICH CAHPS Survey. To obtain approval, the vendor must revise and resubmit its vendor application. CMS and the Coordination Team will review the vendor’s request and approve the request if the vendor has experience conducting surveys using the requested data collection mode(s).
10. ICH CAHPS Survey vendors are required to use one of three phrases to indicate that address service is requested on outgoing mail survey envelopes. Can survey vendors also use “Electronic Service Requested” to receive address corrections electronically?
A. The Coordination Team approves using “Electronic Service Requested” on outgoing mail survey envelopes. We will add this protocol to the next version of the ICH CAHPS Survey Administration and Specifications Manual. Survey vendors, however, can begin using this type of request on outgoing mail envelopes beginning with the 2017 Fall Survey.
11. Is there a way for vendors to determine whether their clients have submitted a Facility Non-Participation Form (NPF) to indicate that they will not be administering the ICH CAHPS Survey in a specific calendar year?
A. It should be noted that the Sample File Summary Report that the vendor receives with the sample file in each survey period has an indication of whether a CCN has submitted an NPF. However, some CCNs do not submit the NPF by the February 15 deadline, in which case the vendor does not have a record that the form was submitted. The Site Visit Team will send each vendor an e-mail containing an updated list of the CCNs for which an NPF has been submitted prior to the beginning of each survey period.
12. Is CMS considering administering the ICH CAHPS Survey in the future as an annual survey?
A. CMS is taking this into consideration along with other methods to reduce respondent burden, such as shortening the survey. The Coordination Team will alert survey vendors if the current survey design and periodicity changes in the future.