Reminder: Only 1 Week before the Data Submission Deadline for the 2024 ICH CAHPS Spring Survey
folder_openData Submissionscalendar_todayPosted July 24, 2024
The deadline for submitting data files from the 2024 ICH CAHPS Spring Survey to the Data Center is at 5:00 PM Eastern Time on Wednesday, July 31, 2024, which is 1 week from today. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will not accept any data files after that date and time.
We strongly encourage vendors who have not submitted an XML file for any of their facility clients to begin submitting as soon as possible. Remember that vendors must submit their data files in time to correct and re-submit any files that do not pass the validation checks.
As a reminder, given the changes to the race response options for 2024 Spring, vendors should ensure that race responses are reflected accurately and that they are using the revised XML data layout file. The announcement regarding additional QC checks to perform on XML files before data submission can be found here. The announcement regarding the revised data submission tools and resources can be found here.
Please feel free to contact the ICH CAHPS Coordination Team via email at ichcahps@rti.org or call 1-866-245-8083 if you have any questions or need help with data submissions.
Back to top
Updated ICH CAHPS Survey Materials for the 2024 Fall Survey
folder_openChanges to Survey Materialscalendar_todayPosted July 19, 2024
The ICH CAHPS Coordination Team would like to give early notification to ICH CAHPS Survey vendors of the following survey materials that will be revised for implementation during the 2024 Fall Survey period:
- ICH CAHPS Prenotification Letter:
- All approved Languages:
- Added the title “Director” to Vanessa S. Duran’s signature as the Medicare Drug Benefit and C & D Data Group Director.
- Revised reference to provider type “Dialysis facilities” to match updated language on Care Compare website.
- ICH CAHPS Cover Letter 1:
- All approved Languages:
- Added the title “Director” to Vanessa S. Duran’s signature as the Medicare Drug Benefit and C & D Data Group Director.
- Revised reference to provider type “Dialysis facilities” to match updated language on Care Compare website.
- Samoan Language: Minor update made to match text included in the prenotification letters.
- ICH CAHPS Cover Letter 2:
- All approved Languages:
- Added the title “Director” to Vanessa S. Duran’s signature as the Medicare Drug Benefit and C & D Data Group Director.
- Revised reference to provider type “Dialysis facilities” to match updated language on Care Compare website.
- Samoan Language: Minor update made to match text included in the prenotification letters.
- ICH CAHPS Mail Survey:
- Simplified Chinese: Minor formatting edit to text in Question 30.
- Traditional Chinese: Minor formatting and/or text edits to the response options in Questions 20, 35, and 37.
The Coordination Team will provide the revised materials to approved survey vendors who administer these languages via email within the next few weeks, so that they can begin updating their systems/processes to include these new changes and requirements. All survey vendors must update their survey materials before the 2024 Fall Survey begins in October 2024. At this time, these are the only survey materials revisions expected; however, survey vendors will be notified should other changes be required.
The revised cover letters and mail surveys will also be made available on the ICH CAHPS website by mid-August 2024. All updated survey materials will be discussed during the next ICH CAHPS Vendor Update Webinar Training session in February 2025.
Please contact the ICH CAHPS Coordination Team via email at ichcahps@rti.org if you have any questions.
Back to top
Reminder: Only 2 Weeks before the Data Submission Deadline for the 2024 ICH CAHPS Spring Survey
folder_openData Submissionscalendar_todayPosted July 17, 2024
As a reminder, the deadline for submitting data files from the 2024 ICH CAHPS Spring Survey to the Data Center is at 5:00 PM ET on Wednesday, July 31, 2024, which is only 2 weeks away. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will not accept any data files after that date and time.
We strongly encourage vendors to begin submitting XML files as soon as possible following the end of data collection. Remember that vendors should submit their data files in time for them to correct and re-submit any files that do not pass the validation checks.
As a reminder, given the changes to the race response options for 2024 Spring, vendors should ensure that race responses are reflected accurately and that they are using the revised XML data layout file. The announcement regarding additional QC checks to perform on XML files before data submission can be found here. The announcement regarding the revised data submission tools and resources can be found here.
Please feel free to contact the ICH CAHPS Coordination Team via email at ichcahps@rti.org or call 1-866-245-8083 if you have any questions or need help with data submissions.
Back to top
Reminder: Only 3 Weeks before the Data Submission Deadline for the 2024 ICH CAHPS Spring Survey
folder_openData Submissionscalendar_todayPosted July 10, 2024
As a reminder, data collection for the 2024 ICH CAHPS Spring Survey ends on Friday, July 12, 2024. The deadline for submitting data files from the 2024 Spring Survey to the Data Center is at 5:00 PM Eastern Time on Wednesday, July 31, 2024, which is only 3 weeks away. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will not accept any data files after that date and time.
As XML files are uploaded to the ICH CAHPS Data Center, a series of validation checks are made, one of which is a check to ensure that a patient-level record is included on the XML file for every case that was sampled for a CCN. Please note the following:
- If the number of cases you include on an XML file does not match the number sampled, an error or warning message will appear on your data submission report.
- If the error message appears for one or more of your CCNs, please make sure that you have entered information about each sampled case on the XML file.
Also be reminded that survey vendors:
- given the changes to the race response options for 2024 Spring, should ensure that race responses are reflected accurately and that they are using the revised XML data layout file;
- should submit their files as soon as possible to allow adequate time to correct any problems identified and re-submit the files before the deadline; and
- can submit a file for a CCN as many times as needed; however, keep in mind that each time a file for a CCN is re-submitted, it overwrites the file that was submitted previously.
Please feel free to contact the ICH CAHPS Coordination Team via email at ichcahps@rti.org or call 1-866-245-8083 if you have any questions or need help with data submissions.
Back to top
Proposed ESRD Prospective Payment System Rule for Calendar Year 2025
folder_openInformation for Dialysis Facilitiescalendar_todayPosted July 8, 2024
The ESRD Prospective Payment System (PPS) proposed rule for calendar year 2025, which was published in the Federal Register on July 5, 2024, is now available here.
Back to top
ICH CAHPS Coordination Team Semi-Annual Review (CTSAR) Newsletter – July 2024 Edition
folder_openOther Announcementscalendar_todayPosted July 5, 2024
The July 2024 edition of the ICH CAHPS Coordination Team Semi-Annual Review (CTSAR) has been published. As a reminder, this newsletter is a way to provide in-center hemodialysis (ICH) facilities and survey vendors with helpful ICH CAHPS information.
The CTSAR is posted on the ICH CAHPS website and updated every January and July. You can navigate to the July 2024 newsletter in the Quick Links box on the ICH CAHPS home page, under the General Information tab on the ICH CAHPS website, or you can click here to view it now.
The CTSAR does not replace any source of information currently on the ICH CAHPS website; instead, it highlights important information for readers prior to each survey period. We encourage you to visit the ICH CAHPS website for more information on the items mentioned in this newsletter. Please continue to monitor the ICH CAHPS website for updates and announcements.
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.
Back to top
Reminder of Upcoming Deadline for Submitting Facility-Specific Questions for the 2024 ICH CAHPS Fall Survey for Approval
folder_openOther Announcementscalendar_todayPosted July 5, 2024
This is a reminder that ICH CAHPS Survey vendors must submit new and revised facility-specific questions that they plan to add to the 2024 ICH CAHPS Fall Survey to the Coordination Team for review and approval. If any of your ICH facility clients are planning to add any new facility-specific questions to the 2024 ICH CAHPS Fall Survey, or change any currently approved facility-specific questions, please send those questions and their proposed placement to the Coordination Team via email at ichcahps@rti.org before 5:00 PM ET on August 2, 2024.
Please note that facility-specific questions that were approved by the Coordination Team for use in previous survey periods do not need to be approved again unless the question wording or response options have changed.
The Coordination Team will accept facility-specific questions for review after the August 2, 2024 deadline; however, approval of those questions may not be granted in time for the questions to be included in the 2024 Fall Survey. Survey vendors should work with their client ICH facilities to decide on the use of new facility-specific questions and submit the questions to the Coordination Team as soon as possible to avoid a delay in approval.
Please contact the Coordination Team via email at ichcahps@rti.org or by calling 1-888-245-8083 if you have any questions.
Back to top
RTI International will be closed July 4, 2024 (In observance of Independence Day)
folder_openOther Announcementscalendar_todayPosted June 26, 2024
RTI International will be closed on July 4, 2024 in observance of the July 4th Independence Day holiday and will have limited availability on July 5, 2024. The ICH CAHPS Coordination Team will respond to email and telephone technical assistance inquiries that are received as soon as possible on Monday, July 8, 2024.
Please contact the Coordination Team via email at ichcahps@rti.org or call 1-866-245-8083 if you have any questions.
Back to top
Tentative Data Collection Schedule for the 2024 ICH CAHPS Fall Survey
folder_openOther Announcementscalendar_todayPosted June 25, 2024
The tentative data collection schedule and the dates for some key activities related to the 2024 In-Center Hemodialysis CAHPS (ICH CAHPS) Fall Survey are shown below. Please note that these dates are subject to change. Should a schedule change occur, an announcement will be emailed and posted.
Please note that this year, the Thanksgiving holiday falls on November 28, 2024, during the last week of November. Some vendors may have difficulties with mailing the 2nd survey package (mail-only) or beginning phone follow-up (mixed mode) for the 2024 Fall Survey on the originally scheduled date of November 29, 2024 (the day after Thanksgiving). As such, the 2024 Fall data collection schedule has been set such that vendors may either begin implementing the second wave of ICH CAHPS data collection on November 29, 2024, or the following week on December 4, 2024. The deadline for data submission will remain January 29, 2025, for both schedules.
| Activity |
Date |
| Submit New Facility-Specific Questions to CMS |
8/2/2024 |
| Deadline for Authorizing a Vendor for 2024 Fall Survey1 |
8/31/2024 |
| Deadline (for vendors) to submit Facility Closed Attestation form2 |
8/31/2024 |
| Deadline (for vendors) to Review Vendor Authorization Report and Notify the Coordination Team of any Authorization Issues |
9/3/2024 |
| |
|
| Sampling Window |
4/1/2024-6/30/2024 |
| Sample Files Uploaded on ICH CAHPS Website |
9/27/2024 |
| Vendors Attest to Receipt of Sample File |
10/1/2024 |
| Mail Prenotification Letter |
10/18/2024 |
| Mail 1st Survey (mail only and mixed mode)/Begin Telephone data collection (phone only mode) |
11/1/2024 |
| Mail 2nd Survey (mail only)/Begin phone follow-up (mixed mode) |
11/29/2024
OR
12/4/2024 |
| Data Collection Ends |
1/10/2025 |
| Vendors Clean/Process Final Data and Construct XML File |
1/10/2025-1/29/2025 |
| Deadline for Submitting XML Data File to ICH Data Center |
1/29/2025 |
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 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.
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 upcoming ICH CAHPS Survey Period.
Back to top
Reminder: Deadline for Submitting an Updated 2024 ICH CAHPS Quality Assurance Plan is May 31, 2024
folder_openOther Announcementscalendar_todayPosted May 24, 2024
This is a friendly reminder that the deadline for ICH CAHPS Survey vendors to submit the annual Quality Assurance Plan (QAP) is 5:00 PM Eastern Time on May 31, 2024.
The QAP must describe how the survey vendor will implement, comply with, and provide oversight of all survey and data processing activities associated with the ICH CAHPS Survey. To ensure prompt review and acceptance of your Update QAP, please follow the procedures listed below:
- Locate the version of your most recently approved QAP; that is, the version that was accepted by CMS and the Coordination Team in 2023 (or later if edits were made and submitted after May 2023).
- Make a copy of that version and accept all tracked changes, creating a clean copy of your QAP.
- Make all 2024 updates to your clean copy using track changes, so that your document reflects only the changes made since your most recently approved QAP.
- Make sure to include updates to your QAP if your organization has had changes in ICH CAHPS Survey personnel, changes to protocols or procedures, and/or changes in approved survey mode(s).
- Make sure your QAP follows the format shown in the Model QAP posted on the ICH CAHPS website. Also make sure that you provide information for every topic included in the Model QAP.
- Before submitting your annual QAP, check it carefully to make sure that it reflects all ICH CAHPS Survey protocols disseminated via announcements posted on the ICH CAHPS website and/or described in the latest version of the Survey Administration and Specifications Manual.
- Vendors should submit for review a copy of all survey materials (envelope, prenotification letter, cover letters 1 and 2, mail surveys, telephone scripts) for each language the survey is being administered in. As a reminder, these materials should be the versions used in the 2024 Spring Survey, which are the survey materials that were recently approved by the Coordination Team.
- Submit your QAP online via the ICH CAHPS website by accessing the Submit Quality Assurance Plan option under the “For Vendors” menu on the grey bar at the top of the website’s home page (https://ichcahps.org/).
The QAP must be updated and submitted annually on or before May 31 of each year and any time the vendor has a change in ICH CAHPS personnel, capabilities, or systems that are used to administer the ICH CAHPS Survey. Remember that you must also update your online ICH CAHPS Vendor Application Form if you have been approved to add/drop survey modes, changed key personnel and/or subcontractors, and/or have changed your business name or location.
Please contact the ICH CAHPS Coordination Team at 1-866-245-8083 or via email at ichcahps@rti.org if you have any questions about the QAP update process or deadline.
Back to top