THE EMERGENCY ROOM VISIT – THE NEXT PHASE IN CAHPS®

In April 2016, CMS announced the 3.0 feasibility test for the Emergency Department was completed. The test included patients discharged from the ER directly back to the community. This test was conducted in several forms including; mail notification of an online survey; email notification of an online survey; email notification followed by mail notification and phone administration; and a real-time ED-distribution of a paper survey by hospital staff with a mail-in or phone option for completion.

WHAT IS EDPEC?

Formally known as EDCAHPS, the Emergency Department Patient Experience with Care (EDPEC) survey was developed by the American Healthcare for Research Quality to measure the experiences of patients (18 and older) with emergency department care. This includes patients admitted to the hospital following their emergency department visit and those visiting the emergency department who are discharged to the community. The surveys were developed following the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) principles and will eventually be publically reported on the Hospital Compare website. The reason for evaluating an emergency department’s experience is quite obvious since it is the ‘front door’ to a majority of hospital admissions. CMS also reports that emergency departments “handle 28% of all acute care visits in the U.S., half of all such visits by Medicaid and State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) beneficiaries, and nearly two-thirds of such visits among the uninsured”.

HELPFUL TIPS

• Click the links if you are interested in looking at the ED CAHPS ENGLISH or ED CAHPS SPANISH survey

RESOURCES

• CMS.gov – Learn more about ED CAHPS at the CMS website.
• ED CAHPS Recommended Guidelines – The most recent update was July 2020. 
• ED CAHPS Fact Sheet  – The most recent update was July 2020.

HCAHPS®

The Hospital Consumer Assessment for Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey was developed in 2005 by the AHRQ to help provide a standardized hospital survey regarding patient satisfaction. Results from the survey are publically reported to provide consumers with comparative information so they can make an informed decision when selecting a hospital for their care. The HCAHPS survey is also one of four domains that are part of the Value Based Purchasing Program, which is used for Medicare reimbursement.

HELPFUL TIPS

• HCAHPS 101 – An introduction to HCAHPS (Updating in progress.)
• HCAHPS Top Box Methodology – Each measure that makes up the composites
• CMS Stars Ratings– How HCAPS Stars ratings are calculated
• 2022 HCAHPS Fact Sheet– (CAHPS® Hospital Survey)
• 2022 Survey Instruments English Telephone Script and Spanish Telephone Script – The script explains the purpose of the survey and confirms necessary information about
  the patient. Interviewers must not conduct the survey with a proxy.

RESOURCES

• HCAHPS Phone Script (English) – AHRQ site on the survey as well as a reporting database
• HCAHPS Quality and Assurance Guidelines – CMS version 17.0 March 2022
• Technical Notes for HCAHPS Star Ratings – 2022 five-star quality ratings to its Compare Web sites, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) publish HCAHPS Star Ratings on its Hospital Compare Web site. Star Ratings make it easier for consumers to use the information on the Compare Web sites and spotlight excellence in healthcare quality.
• HCAHPS Percentile Table – This is the link to the most recent HCAHPS percentile tables. You can compare your percentages to the national percentiles.

HOME HEALTH CAHPS®

Beginning in October 2010, Home Health agencies were required by CMS to participate in HHCAHPS surveys. Vendors must be certified by CMS to conduct these surveys on the Home Health agencies’ behalf. J. L. Morgan & Associates, Inc. is a CMS-approved survey vendor. Survey vendors are very important for home health agencies because per CMS, Home Health agencies are not permitted to conduct their own HHCAHPS surveys.

HELPFUL TIPS

• HCAHPS 101 – An introduction to HCAHPS (Updating in progress)

RESOURCES

• HHCAHPS Protocols and Guidelines 14.0 – The most recent update was in January 2022. 
• HHCAHPS Questionnaire –  The most recent update was in January 2020 for the Home Health Care CAHPS® Survey
• HomeHealthCahps.org – Official website for news and information on HHCAHPS

OAS CAHPS®

JL. Morgan is pleased to be a CMS approved vendor for the OAS (Outpatient Ambulatory Surgery or Services) CAHPS program involving CPT CODES 10021-69990. The Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment and Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment Systems and Quality Reporting ProgramsCY 2023 Proposed Rule has been published in the Federal Register today, July 26, 2022. The Proposed Rule is available on the OAS CAHPS website at the link provided here. In this Proposed Rule, CMS plans to continue voluntary participation in the OAS CAHPS Survey (OP-37/ASC-15 measure) through CY 2023 for HOPDs and CY 2024 for ASCs. Therefore, participation in the OAS CAHPS Survey will be linked to reimbursement beginning with CY 2024 for HOPDs and CY 2025 for ASCs. Confirmation of plans will be published in the CY 2023 Final Rule in November 2022. The OPPS and ASC Rules are updated annually. The next update (CY 2024 Rule) will be proposed in July or August 2023 and finalized in November 2023. The CY 2024 Rule will reflect any planned changes that would impact the 2024 data collection period (CY 2026 payment determination).

HELPFUL TIPS

• Introduction to OAS CAHPS – This is a PowerPoint to help you learn more about OAS CAHPS. This PowerPoint will be back uploaded soon. We are updating the information for your benefit. 
• OAS CAHPS Informational Flyer
• OAS CAHPS Data Elements– Data layout for OAS submission to J.L. Morgan

RESOURCES

• OAS CAHPS Protocols and Guidelines – The most recent is version 6.0 from November 2021.