ICH CAHPS Announcements

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Announcements

2026 ESRD Prospective Payment System Final Rule
Information for Dialysis FacilitiesPosted November 24, 2025

The ESRD Prospective Payment System (PPS) Final Rule for Calendar Year 2026, which was published in the Federal Register on November 24, 2025, is available here.

Important Reminder: Accuracy of Patient Contact Information in EQRS for the ICH CAHPS Survey
Other AnnouncementsPosted November 21, 2025

Dear In-Center Hemodialysis (ICH) CAHPS Facility Survey Administrators:

As you may know, the ICH CAHPS Coordination Team uses data from the End-Stage Renal Disease Quality Reporting System (EQRS) to draw a sample for each ICH CAHPS Survey. We then provide patient contact information from EQRS to your authorized survey vendor so that they can administer the survey on your behalf to the sampled patients from your facility.

After recent notification from a facility, we conducted a review of the 2025 ICH CAHPS Fall Survey sampling data and identified a small percentage of cases where the dialysis facility’s address was entered into EQRS as the patient’s home address. The use of the facility’s address in place of the patient’s home address can result in survey materials being mailed to the facility; this poses several concerns, including that the facility can determine which patients may have been sampled for the survey.

Accurate address information plays an important role in drawing a valid ICH CAHPS sample and to supporting sample patients’ ability to receive and complete the survey privately! We strongly encourage facilities to review their procedures for entering and updating patient contact information in EQRS and ensure that patient address data for October, November, and December 2025 (the sampling window for the 2026 Spring Survey) are complete and accurate.

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

Regards,
The ICH CAHPS Coordination Team

Patient-Mix Coefficients, Star Ratings, and Average State and National Scores for the ICH CAHPS Survey Results Publicly Reported in November 2025
Information for Dialysis FacilitiesPosted November 21, 2025

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 2024 ICH CAHPS Spring and 2024 ICH CAHPS Fall Surveys.

Patient-Mix Coefficients and Star Ratings for the 2025 November (delayed from October) 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 November 2025. 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 2025 November (delayed from October) 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.

RTI International will be closed November 27 and 28, 2025
Other AnnouncementsPosted November 20, 2025

RTI International will have limited availability on November 26, 2025 and will be closed on November 27 and 28, 2025 for the Thanksgiving holiday. The ICH CAHPS Coordination Team will respond to email and telephone technical assistance inquiries that are received on these dates as soon as possible after RTI re-opens on December 1, 2025.

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

Tentative Data Collection Schedule for the 2026 ICH CAHPS Spring Survey
Other AnnouncementsPosted November 7, 2025

The tentative data collection schedule and the dates for some key activities related to the 2026 In-Center Hemodialysis CAHPS (ICH CAHPS) Spring Survey are shown below. Please note that these dates are subject to change. Should a schedule change occur, an announcement will be posted.

Activity	Date
2026 ICH CAHPS Survey Vendor Update Training Session	2/18/2026
2026 Introduction to the ICH CAHPS Survey Self-Administered Training	2/18/2026-2/25/2026
Submit New Facility-Specific Questions to CMS	2/6/2026
Deadline for Authorizing a Vendor for 2026 Spring Survey¹	2/28/2026
Deadline for Submitting a 2026 Facility Non-Participation Form²	2/28/2026
Deadline (for vendors) to submit Facility Closed Attestation form³	2/28/2026
Deadline (for vendors) to Review Vendor Authorization Report and Notify the Coordination Team of any Authorization Issues	3/2/2026
Deadline for Submitting the Updated Quality Assurance Plan	5/31/2026

Sampling Window	10/1/2025-12/31/2025
Sample Files Uploaded on ICH CAHPS Website	3/27/2026
Vendors Attest to Receipt of Sample File	3/31/2026
Mail Prenotification Letter	4/17/2026
Mail 1^st Survey Package (mail-only and mixed mode)/Begin Telephone data collection (phone-only)	5/1/2026
Mail 2^nd Survey Package (mail-only)/Begin Telephone follow-up (mixed mode)	5/29/2026
Data Collection Ends	7/10/2026
Vendors Clean/Process Final Data and Construct XML File	7/10/2026-7/29/2026
Deadline for Submitting XML Data File to ICH Data Center	7/29/2026

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 The Facility Non-Participation Form is an annual form that is valid only for the year in which it was submitted and alerts the Coordination team that a sample file should not be provided for the facility for that year’s surveys. ICH facilities that submitted the 2025 Facility Non-Participation Form must submit the 2026 Facility Non-Participation Form if they do not plan to administer the 2026 ICH CAHPS Spring and Fall Surveys.
³ 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, due to the closing of the facility.

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 2026 ICH CAHPS Spring Survey.

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.

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