ICH CAHPS Announcements

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Application to Become a CMS-approved ICH CAHPS Survey Vendor for the 2026 Fall Survey Now Available
Training InformationPosted October 30, 2025

The In-Center Hemodialysis CAHPS (ICH CAHPS) Survey Coordination Team is now accepting applications from survey organizations interested in becoming approved by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to administer the ICH CAHPS Survey on behalf of in-center hemodialysis facilities.

Interested survey vendors must submit an application to the ICH CAHPS Coordination Team by 5:00 PM ET on December 5, 2025. Survey organizations that submit an application by December 5^th and meet the requirements for becoming a CMS-approved ICH CAHPS Survey vendor, including participating in the Introduction training session in February 2026, will be eligible to administer the survey beginning with the 2026 ICH CAHPS Fall Survey.

Survey vendor applicants must complete the following tasks to be considered for approval:

Meet a set of minimum business requirements located here.
Designate a staff member to be the vendor’s ICH CAHPS Survey Administrator.
The vendor's designated ICH CAHPS Survey Administrator must complete the online Vendor Registration Form (available under the "For Vendors" menu) to obtain login credentials to the ICH CAHPS website.
After submitting the Vendor Registration Form, the ICH CAHPS Survey Administrator can complete and submit the Vendor Application which is on the Vendor Dashboard. They will be directed to their Vendor Dashboard once they submit the Vendor Registration Form.
After submitting the Vendor Application, the person designated as the ICH CAHPS Survey Administrator must complete and submit the online Vendor Consent Form from the dashboard.
The vendor's designated ICH CAHPS Survey Administrator must register for and complete the 2026 Introduction to the ICH CAHPS Survey self-paced training and the training certification in February 2026; the certification will be provided via email to registrants. We strongly encourage all key ICH CAHPS staff to complete this self-paced ICH CAHPS Survey training. Subcontractors who will have a significant role (i.e., those conducting the following activities: telephone survey data collection, mail/questionnaire receipt and/or processing, and construction or submission of XML data files) must also complete this self-paced ICH CAHPS Survey Intro training. If conditional approval is granted, newly approved vendors must attend all ICH CAHPS Update training sessions. More details on trainings will be posted on the ICH CAHPS website in December.
Agree to implement the ICH CAHPS Survey using standardized protocols and procedures described in the ICH CAHPS Survey Administration and Specifications Manual available here.
Complete and submit a Quality Assurance Plan within 6 weeks after the vendor’s first ICH CAHPS Survey data submission.
Participate and cooperate in all oversight activities conducted by the ICH CAHPS Survey Coordination Team, including but not limited to conference calls and site visits, as deemed necessary.

Please contact the ICH CAHPS Coordination Team at 1-866-245-8083 or via email at ichcahps@rti.org if you have questions about the ICH CAHPS Survey and the requirements for becoming an approved ICH CAHPS Survey vendor.

DRAFT Revised ICH CAHPS Surveys for 2026 Spring (tentative) Now Posted on the ICH CAHPS Website
Changes to Survey MaterialsPosted September 26, 2025

CMS and the Coordination Team continue to work through the required approvals for the implementation of the revised (shortened) ICH CAHPS Survey. We have now posted the proposed DRAFT revised survey, in all languages, on the Survey and Protocols webpage.

IMPORTANT: The proposed DRAFT revised survey is to be considered a draft only at this time. It will not be considered final until 1) CMS’s plans are finalized in the Final Rule expected in late 2025, and 2) OMB approval has been received.

At this point, the earliest potential implementation of the revised ICH CAHPS Survey will be the 2026 Spring Survey; however, we will keep vendors updated with any changes to this potential timeline.

Please contact the ICH CAHPS Coordination Team at 1-866-245-8083 or via email at ichcahps@rti.org if you have any questions or need more information about the proposed DRAFT revised ICH CAHPS Survey.

Updated ICH CAHPS Survey Materials for the 2025 Fall Survey Now on Website
Changes to Survey MaterialsPosted September 26, 2025

The following 508-compliant ICH CAHPS Survey materials that were revised for the 2025 Fall Survey period are now available on the ICH CAHPS website.

OMB Disclosure Notice Protocol:

The OMB Disclosure Notice (notice) was revised to include additional information required by OMB.
The revised notice, which is longer than the current notice, must be printed on either the questionnaire OR on the cover letters 1 and 2 (in all approved languages).
- Vendors can make the determination on whether to include the notice on the mail survey or on the ICH CAHPS cover letters 1 and 2 or both the survey and the letters.
- If choosing to print the notice on the mail survey only (and not the letters), vendors should remove the notice text from their personalized cover letters 1 and 2. If choosing to print the notice on cover letters 1 and 2 only (and not the survey), vendors should remove the notice text from their personalized mail surveys.

ICH CAHPS Mail Survey:

The OMB expiration date, which is required to be printed under the standalone OMB number in the upper right-hand corner on the cover/first page of the mail survey, was revised to display as: “Expiration Date: January 31, 2026” (translated into all approved languages).
If printing the revised OMB Disclosure Notice (notice) on the mail survey:
- The notice may be printed on the survey cover (or the first page if there is no cover page) or the last page of the mail survey, using a font size equal to or larger than 9 point.
- Although the revised notice still includes the OMB number within it, the OMB number must still appear separately on the survey cover (or first page of the mail survey if there is no cover page). In other words, if the revised notice is printed on the survey cover/first page, then the OMB number will appear twice on this page: once within the OMB Disclosure Notice and separately in the top right corner along with the expiration date.

ICH CAHPS Cover Letters 1 and 2:

Cover Letters 1 and 2 were revised to replace Duran’s name and signature with the text “Center for Medicare”.
If printing the revised OMB Disclosure Notice (notice) on Cover Letters 1 and 2:
- The notice must be printed using a font size equal to or larger than 9 point.
- Due to the length of the revised notice’s text, it may be necessary to print the notice on the back of the letter, especially once the merge information has been added. Vendors should try to print the notice on the front of the letter, but do not need to submit an ERF if they must print the notice on the back of the cover letters.

As a reminder, the Coordination Team provided these revised materials, including the revised prenotification letter, to approved survey vendors via email in August and early September. All survey vendors must update their survey materials before the 2025 Fall Survey begins in October 2025.

Please contact the ICH CAHPS Coordination Team via email at ichcahps@rti.org if you have any questions.

Request for Interest in Becoming an Approved ICH CAHPS Survey Vendor for 2026
Training InformationPosted September 23, 2025

Important Information for Survey Vendor Organizations Interested in Becoming an Approved ICH CAHPS Survey Vendor

***Any survey vendor organization not already a CMS-approved survey vendor for ICH CAHPS, interested in applying to become an approved ICH CAHPS Survey vendor, must notify the ICH CAHPS Coordination Team of their interest via email at ichcahps@rti.org no later than Monday, October 6, 2025.***

The ICH CAHPS Coordination Team is preparing for the semiannual ICH CAHPS Surveys that will be conducted in calendar year 2026. This will include accepting and processing applications from survey vendor organizations and training those survey vendors to become a CMS-approved ICH CAHPS Survey vendor; however, any interested survey vendor organization must notify us of their intent to submit an application by 5 PM ET on October 6, 2025. To become a CMS-approved ICH CAHPS Survey vendor, survey organizations must at a minimum:

complete and submit the ICH CAHPS Vendor Application via the ICH CAHPS website,
meet the minimum business requirements posted on the ICH CAHPS website,
participate in the self-administered Introduction to the ICH CAHPS Training,
complete a training certification after participating in the Introduction training, and
attend all vendor update training sessions.

The vendor application will be made available on the website in late October, depending on the response to this request for interest announcement. Survey organizations that submit an application for 2026, meet the requirements for becoming a CMS-approved ICH CAHPS Survey vendor, and receive final approval from CMS will be eligible to administer the survey beginning with the 2026 ICH CAHPS Fall Survey.

Please contact the Coordination Team via email at ichcahps@rti.org or call us toll-free telephone at 1-866-245-8083 if you have any questions about this request for interest.

REVISED 9/3/25: Updated ICH CAHPS Survey Materials for the 2025 Fall Survey
Changes to Survey MaterialsPosted September 3, 2025

Updated September 3, 2025 to include additional minor revisions made to the ICH CAHPS Prenotification Letter (in all approved languages) and Cover Letters 1 and 2 (in all approved languages) to reflect the change in the signature included on these letters.

The Coordination Team will provide the revised prenotification letters and cover letters 1 and 2 to approved survey vendors via email 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 2025 Fall Survey begins in October 2025. At this time, these are the only survey materials revisions expected; however, survey vendors will be notified should other changes be required.

Please see details below in red.

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 2025 Fall Survey period.

ICH CAHPS Mail Survey (all approved languages):

The OMB expiration date, which is required to be printed under the standalone OMB number in the upper right-hand corner on the cover/first page of the mail survey, has been revised to display as: “Expiration Date: January 31, 2026.”
- For reference, the current mail survey displays this OMB expiration date as: “Expiration Date: September 30, 2025.”

If printing the revised OMB Disclosure Notice (notice) on the mail survey:
- The notice may be printed on the survey cover (or the first page if there is no cover page) or the last page of the mail survey, using a font size equal to or larger than 9 point.

Although the revised notice still includes the OMB number within it, the OMB number must still appear separately on the survey 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 2025 Fall Survey period.

OMB Disclosure Notice Protocol (REVISED 8/8/25):

The OMB Disclosure Notice (notice) has been revised to include additional information required by OMB.
The revised notice, which is longer than the current notice, must be printed on either the questionnaire OR on the cover letters 1 and 2 (in all approved languages).
- PLEASE NOTE that this is a change from the protocol included in this memo that was originally posted on July 25,2025 which stated the notice must only be printed on the mail survey. This posted announcement has been updated to reflect this change in protocol.
- Vendors can make the determination on whether to include the notice on the mail survey or on the ICH CAHPS cover letters 1 and 2 or both the survey and the letters.
- If choosing to print the notice on the mail survey only (and not the letters), vendors should remove the notice text from their personalized cover letters 1 and 2. If choosing to print the notice on cover letters 1 and 2 only (and not the survey), vendors should remove the notice text from their personalized mail surveys.

ICH CAHPS Mail Survey (all approved languages):

The OMB expiration date, which is required to be printed under the standalone OMB number in the upper right-hand corner on the cover/first page of the mail survey, has been revised to display as: “Expiration Date: January 31, 2026.”
- For reference, the current mail survey displays this OMB expiration date as: “Expiration Date: September 30, 2025.”

If printing the revised OMB Disclosure Notice (notice) on the mail survey:
- The notice may be printed on the survey cover (or the first page if there is no cover page) or the last page of the mail survey, using a font size equal to or larger than 9 point.
- Although the revised notice still includes the OMB number within it, the OMB number must still appear separately on the survey cover (or first page of the mail survey if there is no cover page). In other words, if the revised notice is printed on the survey cover/first page, then the OMB number will appear twice on this page: once within the OMB Disclosure Notice and separately in the top right corner along with the expiration date.

ICH CAHPS Prenotification Letter in all approved languages:

New as of September 3, 2025: Replaced Vanessa S. Duran’s name and signature with the text “Center for Medicare” (translated into all approved languages).

ICH CAHPS Cover Letters 1 and 2 in all approved languages:

If printing the revised OMB Disclosure Notice (notice) on Cover Letters 1 and 2:
- The notice must be printed using a font size equal to or larger than 9 point.
- Due to the length of the revised notice’s text, it may be necessary to print the notice on the back of the letter, especially once the merge information has been added. Vendors should try to print the notice on the front of the letter, but do not need to submit an ERF if they must print the notice on the back of the cover letters.
- New as of September 3, 2025: Replaced Vanessa S. Duran’s name and signature with the text “Center for Medicare” (translated into all approved languages).

These revised mail surveys, cover letters, and standalone OMB Disclosure Notices will also be made available on the ICH CAHPS website in the coming weeks.

Please contact the ICH CAHPS Coordination Team via email at ichcahps@rti.org if you have any questions.

Reminder: Deadline for Submitting the ICH CAHPS Vendor Facility Closing Attestation Form for the 2025 Fall Survey is August 31, 2025
Facility Participation RequirementsPosted August 29, 2025

This is a reminder that survey vendors must notify the Coordination Team of any authorized ICH facilities who have closed or will be closing before the 2025 Fall Survey data collection period by completing and submitting the online Vendor Facility Closing Attestation Form as soon as possible after learning of such closure(s), and no later than 5:00 PM ET on August 31, 2025.

Vendors can access the Vendor Facility Closing Attestation Form by logging into the website and choosing “Vendor Facility Closing Attestation” form, which is under the For Vendors tab at the top of the website’s home page. Once a Vendor Facility Closing Attestation Form is submitted by a survey vendor, an email will be sent to both the currently authorized vendor and the facility’s Survey Administrator to notify the facility that the vendor has submitted the Vendor Facility Closing Attestation Form on the facility’s behalf. If a facility or vendor receives this email and feels that the form has been submitted in error, they should contact the Coordination Team immediately.

If a vendor learns that a facility has closed or will be closing after this deadline and will not participate in the 2025 Fall Survey, both the vendor and the facility should contact the Coordination Team immediately for guidance on next steps.

Please contact the ICH CAHPS Coordination Team at 1-866-245-8083 or via email at ichcahps@rti.org if you have any questions or need more information about the Vendor Facility Closing Attestation Form.

Reminder: Deadline for Authorizing a Survey Vendor for the 2025 ICH CAHPS Fall Survey is August 31, 2025
Facility Participation RequirementsPosted August 29, 2025

This is a reminder that all in-center hemodialysis (ICH) facilities that are administering the ICH CAHPS Survey for the first time or are switching to a different ICH CAHPS Survey vendor to administer the 2025 ICH CAHPS Fall Survey must update their vendor authorization on the ICH CAHPS website by 5:00 PM ET on August 31, 2025. Please note you must update the online vendor authorization only if the following applies:

Your facility is participating in the ICH CAHPS Survey for the first time during the 2025 Fall Survey; OR
Your facility is switching to a different survey vendor to administer the 2025 Fall Survey; OR
Your facility entered the 2025 Spring Survey as the last survey period for which the vendor would administer the survey when you originally submitted the vendor authorization form.

If your organization will continue to use the same ICH CAHPS Survey vendor that was used to administer the 2025 ICH CAHPS Spring Survey, you do not need to update the online vendor authorization form.

If any of the above statements apply to your facility, you must update the online vendor authorization form for the 2025 ICH CAHPS Fall Survey on the ICH CAHPS website by the August 31, 2025 deadline. Please note that you must have a formal written contract with an approved ICH CAHPS Survey vendor before authorizing that vendor on the website.

ICH facilities that served 30 or more survey-eligible patients in calendar year 2024 must administer both the 2025 ICH CAHPS Spring and Fall Surveys to be compliant with the CMS quality reporting requirements. If the online vendor authorization form is not updated by the deadline (if needed based on above scenarios), a sample will not be provided to a survey vendor, which means the 2025 Fall Survey cannot be administered.

The steps for authorizing a vendor on the ICH CAHPS website are as follows:

Log in to the ICH CAHPS website here.
From your personal dashboard, click “Authorize a Vendor.” The system will then take you to the Authorize a Vendor page.
From the “Select Action” drop-down list on the Authorize a Vendor page:
- If authorizing a vendor for the first time on the website: Select the “Select a vendor for the first time” option.
- If changing/switching to a different vendor: Select the “Switch to a different vendor” option.
Select the name of your survey vendor from the vendor drop-down list.
Select the Beginning Survey Period for your new vendor. In this instance, you would select "2025 Fall Survey."
Do not enter an end date for your survey vendor unless you know that you will not be using this vendor for the 2026 Spring Survey.
Select the CCN(s) of the ICH facility (or facilities) to which the authorization applies.
Click the “Submit” button.

Please note the following:

No changes to vendor authorizations will be accepted for the 2025 Fall Survey after 5:00 PM Eastern Time on August 31, 2025.
If a facility has closed or will be closing and knows it will not be participating in the 2025 Fall Survey, please request that your survey vendor submit a Vendor Facility Closing Attestation Form on the ICH CAHPS website by this August 31, 2025 deadline. This will ensure that a sample file will not be provided to the vendor for the upcoming survey period. Vendors are encouraged to confirm with their facility contacts prior to this deadline that the facility is open and operating as expected.

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

RTI International will be closed September 1, 2025
Other AnnouncementsPosted August 27, 2025

RTI International will be closed on September 1, 2025. The ICH CAHPS Coordination Team will respond to email and telephone technical assistance inquiries that are received on that date as soon as possible after RTI re-opens on September 2, 2025.

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

Reminder: Deadline to Submit the ICH CAHPS Vendor Facility Closing Attestation Form for the 2025 Fall Survey is August 31, 2025
Facility Participation RequirementsPosted August 25, 2025

Vendors can access the Vendor Facility Closing Attestation Form by logging into the website and choosing “Vendor Facility Closing Attestation” form, which is under the For Vendors tab at the top of the website’s home page. Once a Vendor Facility Closing Attestation Form is submitted by a survey vendor, an email will be sent to both the currently authorized vendor and the facility’s Survey Administrator to notify the facility that the vendor has submitted the form on the facility’s behalf. If a facility or vendor receives this email and feels that the form has been submitted in error, they should contact the Coordination Team immediately.

Reminder: Deadline to Authorize a Survey Vendor for the 2025 ICH CAHPS Fall Survey is August 31, 2025
Facility Participation RequirementsPosted August 25, 2025

This is a reminder that all in-center hemodialysis (ICH) facilities that are administering the ICH CAHPS Survey for the first time or are switching to a different ICH CAHPS Survey vendor to administer the 2025 ICH CAHPS Fall Survey must update their vendor authorization on the ICH CAHPS website by 5:00 PM ET on August 31, 2025. Please note you must update the online vendor authorization only if the following applies:

Your facility is participating in the ICH CAHPS Survey for the first time during the 2025 Fall Survey; OR
Your facility is switching to a different survey vendor to administer the 2025 ICH CAHPS Fall Survey; OR
Your facility entered the 2025 Spring Survey as the last survey period for which the vendor would administer the survey when you originally submitted the vendor authorization form.

ICH facilities that served 30 or more survey-eligible patients in calendar year 2024 must administer both the 2025 ICH CAHPS Spring and Fall Surveys to be compliant with the CMS quality reporting requirements. If the online vendor authorization form is not updated by the deadline, a sample will not be provided to a survey vendor, which means the 2025 Fall Survey cannot be administered.

The steps for authorizing a vendor on the ICH CAHPS website are as follows:

Log in to the ICH CAHPS website here.
From your personal dashboard, click “Authorize a Vendor.” The system will then take you to the Authorize a Vendor page.
From the “Select Action” drop-down list on the Authorize a Vendor page:
- If authorizing a vendor for the first time on the website: Select the “Select a vendor for the first time” option.
- If changing/switching to a different vendor: Select the “Switch to a different vendor” option.
Select the name of your survey vendor from the vendor drop-down list.
Select the Beginning Survey Period for your new vendor. In this instance, you would select "2025 Fall Survey."
Do not enter an end date for your survey vendor unless you know that you will not be using this vendor for the 2026 Spring Survey.
Select the CCN(s) of the ICH facility (or facilities) to which the authorization applies.
Click the “Submit” button.

Please note the following:

No changes to vendor authorizations will be accepted for the 2025 Fall Survey after 5:00 PM Eastern Time on August 31, 2025.
If a facility has closed or will be closing and knows it will not be participating in the 2025 Fall Survey, please request that your survey vendor submit a Vendor Facility Closing Attestation Form on the ICH CAHPS website by this August 31, 2025 deadline. This will ensure that a sample file will not be provided to the vendor for the upcoming survey period. Vendors are encouraged to confirm with their facility contacts prior to this deadline that the facility is open and operating as expected.

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

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