ICH CAHPS Announcements

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Announcements

RTI International will be closed May 29, 2023 for the Memorial Day Holiday
Other AnnouncementsPosted May 25, 2023

RTI International will be closed on Monday, May 29, 2023 for the Memorial Day holiday. 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 Tuesday, May 30, 2023.

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

Reminder: Deadline for Submitting an Updated 2023 ICH CAHPS Quality Assurance Plan is May 31, 2023
Other AnnouncementsPosted May 24, 2023

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, 2023.

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 2022 (or later if edits were made and submitted after May 2022).
Make a copy of that version and accept all tracked changes, creating a clean copy of your QAP.
Make all 2023 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 for each language the survey was administered during the previous survey period or will be administered in the next survey period. As a reminder, starting with the 2023 QAP Submission, vendors must begin including:
- a copy of cover letters 1 and 2 for each language they are administering, and
- a screenshot of their ICH CAHPS Survey package envelope template (used to send both prenotification letters and mail survey packages).
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.

ICH Facilities Encouraged to Display ICH CAHPS Survey Waiting Room FAQs
Other AnnouncementsPosted May 2, 2023

In an effort to increase ICH CAHPS Survey response rates and promote patient engagement in this important survey, the ICH CAHPS Coordination Team has developed a “Waiting Room FAQs” document for dialysis facilities to use within their facilities. ICH facilities are encouraged to print and display the FAQ document in a prominent area of their facility, perhaps hanging on a wall/door or laminated and sitting on a table.

Data collection for the 2023 Spring Survey will begin at the end of this week with the mailing of surveys (for mail-only and mixed modes) and telephone calls (for phone-only mode). ICH facilities should consider displaying the FAQ document now through mid-July, when the 2023 Spring Survey comes to a close, so that patients are aware of the survey and understand the importance.

The “Waiting Room FAQs” document is available for download at the link below:

Waiting Room FAQs

Please note that it is common for patients who are contacted by survey vendors to seek assurance from their providers; ICH facility staff should assure patients that the survey is legitimate and confidential and point them to these FAQs to answer any questions they may have.

Please contact the ICH CAHPS Coordination Team at 1-866-245-8083 or via email at ichcahps@rti.org if you have any questions regarding the Waiting Room FAQs document. If you feel that your facility needs this in another language that the survey is offered in, please let us know via email.

Deadline for Submitting an Updated 2023 ICH CAHPS Quality Assurance Plan
Other AnnouncementsPosted May 1, 2023

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, 2023.

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 Annual 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 2022 (or later if edits were made and submitted after May 2022).
Make a copy of that version and accept all tracked changes, creating a clean copy of your QAP.
Make all 2023 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 for each language the survey was administered during the previous survey period or will be administered in the next survey period. As a reminder, starting with the 2023 QAP Submission, vendors must begin including:
- a copy of cover letters 1 and 2 for each language they are administering, and
- a screenshot of their ICH CAHPS Survey package envelope template (used to send both prenotification letters and mail survey packages).
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/).

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.

Patient-Mix Coefficients, Star Ratings, and Average State and National Scores for the ICH CAHPS Survey Results Publicly Reported in April 2023
Public ReportingPosted April 27, 2023

The ICH CAHPS Survey results that are currently posted on Care Compare on the Medicare.gov website (https://www.medicare.gov/care-compare/) are based on ICH CAHPS Survey data from the 2021 ICH CAHPS Fall and 2022 ICH CAHPS Spring Surveys.

Patient-Mix Coefficients and Star Ratings for the 2023 April Refresh

The results shown are statistically adjusted for both data collection mode and for patient-mix. Information about the adjustments made to the survey results and the coefficients used to adjust the results can be found here. Information presented in this document will allow ICH facilities to approximate the effect of patient-mix adjustment on their ICH CAHPS Survey results that were posted on Care Compare in April 2023. This document also includes additional information on the clustering method used to create ICH CAHPS Star Ratings (Appendix A).

Average State and National Scores for the 2023 April Refresh

In addition, you can click here to see the state and national averages for the three ICH CAHPS composite measures and the three global ratings based on the combined data from these two survey periods. The average response rate for each state and the overall response rate are also provided in this document.

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

ICH CAHPS: What to Do About Requests for Alternate Formats/Modes of the ICH CAHPS Survey
Changes to Survey MaterialsPosted April 20, 2023

Dear ICH CAHPS Survey Vendors:

Based on general feedback that CMS has recently received from CAHPS’ sample members, CMS and the Coordination Team want to clarify what ICH CAHPS vendors should do if they receive requests from sample patients to complete the survey in an alternate format.

Should an ICH CAHPS Survey vendor receive a request from a sample patient to receive the survey in an alternate format or mode due to an accessibility issue, such as a request to receive a large-print questionnaire due to a vision disability, a mail-only vendor to conduct the survey over the phone for a blind respondent, or for a phone-only vendor to send a mail survey to a deaf or hard-of-hearing respondent, please contact the Coordination Team for guidance on how to proceed. The Coordination Team will work with vendors who receive any such requests to identify the appropriate next steps to accommodate the request.

Ultimately, CMS would like to stress to the vendors the importance of being both sensitive and accommodating, where possible, to the needs of our survey participants when it comes to how they can best complete the ICH CAHPS Survey.

We appreciate your help with this important matter! If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the Coordination Team at ichcahps@rti.org.

Sincerely,
The ICH CAHPS Coordination Team

Deadline for Authorizing a Survey Vendor for the 2023 ICH CAHPS Spring Survey is February 28, 2023
Facility Participation RequirementsPosted February 27, 2023

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 2023 ICH CAHPS Spring Survey must update their vendor authorization on the ICH CAHPS website by 5:00 PM Eastern Time on Tuesday, February 28, 2023.

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 2023 Spring Survey; OR
Your facility is switching to a different survey vendor to administer the 2023 ICH CAHPS Spring Survey; OR
Your facility entered the 2022 Fall 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 2022 ICH CAHPS Fall Survey, you do not need to update the online vendor authorization form. 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 2022 must administer both the 2023 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 2023 Spring 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 "2023 Spring Survey."
Do not enter an end date for your survey vendor unless you know that you will not be using this vendor for the 2023 Fall Survey.
Select the CCN(s) of the ICH facility (or facilities) to which the authorization applies.
Click the “Submit” button.

Please note: No changes to vendor authorizations will be accepted for the 2023 Spring Survey after 5:00 PM Eastern Time on February 28, 2023.

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 2023 ICH CAHPS Surveys.

Reminder: The 2023 ICH CAHPS Survey Facility Non-Participation Form Deadline is February 28, 2023
Facility Participation RequirementsPosted February 22, 2023

Please note that the deadline for submitting the 2023 Facility Non-Participation Form for the ICH CAHPS Survey is 5:00 PM Eastern Time on February 28, 2023. To access this form, login to the website using your user credentials and choose “Facility Non-Participation Form” under the For Facilities menu.

As noted in an email message sent to in-center hemodialysis (ICH) facilities on January 3, 2023 and posted under the Quick Links menu on the ICH CAHPS website’s home page, all ICH facilities must determine whether they will be required to administer the ICH CAHPS Surveys in calendar year 2023 by counting the number of survey-eligible patients they served in 2022.

ICH facilities that determine that they are not required to administer the 2023 ICH CAHPS Surveys and those that choose not to administer the surveys must complete and submit the 2023 Facility Non-Participation Form on the website.

ICH facilities should please note the following:

The Facility Non-Participation Form is an annual form that is valid only for the year in which it was submitted. ICH facilities that submitted the Facility Non-Participation Form in 2022 must submit the 2023 Facility Non-Participation Form if they do not plan to administer the 2023 ICH CAHPS Spring and Fall Surveys.
Submission of the Facility Non-Participation Form only alerts the ICH CAHPS Coordination Team that the facility does not wish for a sample file to be provided to their authorized vendor for the current calendar year; it does not affect compliance, which is determined on an annual basis by the ESRD Quality Incentive Program (QIP) team.
Once the Facility Non-Participation Form is submitted, any existing vendor authorization for the submitted CCN(s) is removed from the ICH CAHPS website. This means that if at any point in the future the submitted CCN(s) wishes to participate in the ICH CAHPS Surveys, the designated ICH CAHPS Facility Survey Administrator will need to authorize a survey vendor for the CCN(s).
Facilities certified after December 31, 2022 are not required to complete and submit the online Facility Non-Participation Form, unless they are currently registered with an authorized vendor on the ICH CAHPS website.

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 Facility Non-Participation Form.

Only One Week before the Deadline to Authorize a Survey Vendor for the 2023 ICH CAHPS Spring Survey
Facility Participation RequirementsPosted February 22, 2023

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 2023 ICH CAHPS Spring Survey must update their vendor authorization on the ICH CAHPS website by 5:00 PM Eastern Time on February 28, 2023. 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 2023 Spring Survey; OR
Your facility is switching to a different survey vendor to administer the 2023 ICH CAHPS Spring Survey; OR
Your facility entered the 2022 Fall 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 2022 ICH CAHPS Fall 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 2023 ICH CAHPS Spring Survey on the ICH CAHPS website by the February 28, 2023 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.

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 "2023 Spring Survey."
Do not enter an end date for your survey vendor unless you know that you will not be using this vendor for the 2023 Fall Survey.
Select the CCN(s) of the ICH facility (or facilities) to which the authorization applies.
Click the “Submit” button.

Please note: No changes to vendor authorizations will be accepted for the 2023 Spring Survey after 5:00 PM Eastern Time on February 28, 2023.

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 2023 ICH CAHPS Surveys.

ICH CAHPS Survey Administration and Specifications Manual, Version 11.0
Changes to Protocols and GuidelinesPosted February 3, 2023

The In-center Hemodialysis CAHPS (ICH CAHPS) Survey Administration and Specifications Manual, Version 11.0 is now available on the ICH CAHPS website in MS Word and PDF formats. The protocols and guidelines described in Version 11.0 of this manual are effective immediately and supersede those described in previous versions of the manual.

Please note: At the end of Chapter 1 is a “What’s New or Different?” section, which contains a list of the chapters in the manual in which the major changes in survey protocols and materials are described.

To conserve paper, the ICH CAHPS Coordination Team will print a limited number of hardcopy versions of this manual. Organizations may request a hardcopy manual by sending an email message to the ICH CAHPS Coordination Team at ichcahps@rti.org.

Updated ICH CAHPS Survey protocols and procedures will be reviewed during the ICH CAHPS Survey Vendor Update Training session that will take place on Wednesday, February 8, 2023. A training agenda and the presentation slides for those training sessions will also be posted on the ICH CAHPS website by 5:00 PM ET today, February 3, 2023.

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

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