HHCAHPS Information and Guidelines

Changes to the "Announcements" page on homehealthcahps.org

2011-08-03T12:51:00.000-07:00

Yesterday RTI announced some aesthetic and functional changes to the "Announcements" page of http://homehealthcahps.org.

The new design allows you to access information more quickly, enabling you to sort announcements by month, topic, or category. At the top of the page you'll find a "Recent Announcements" banner, which provides the title and link of the five most recent announcements. Below the Recent Announcements section, is a list of all announcements, with the announcement title and the opening paragraphs, with the option to read more.

Find a full explanation of features and benefits to the page here.

We applaud the new design; it is clean and user-friendly. RTI would like to hear feedback about your experience--send any suggestions or questions you may have to hhcahps@rti.org

For any questions about how you can make your HHCAHPS survey help your agency grow, contact Pinnacle Quality Insight, at 801-293-0700.

An HHCAHPS Testimonial

2011-04-05T14:38:00.000-07:00

We would like to share a client testimonial recently sent to us:

Since I have a few minutes and while we are on the subject of quality. I want to thank you and your staff for the assistance that you have given us to comply with the CAHPS mandate. The transition was simple and you have made compliance with this program a breeze. Besides being an owner of an agency, I am also a consultant and I have seen what some of the other vendors are doing. No reminders to submit the names of patients, no reports or if there are reports they are not professional and do not furnish very much information. When I have had questions, your staff has responded to me quickly. I feel that if the vendor does not act professionally when I interact with them, how are they treating my patients? When the vendor interacts with my patients, they are projecting my agency. Again thank you for your assistance and help.

Sharon Kean, RN, MBA
Victorville HHA Services, LLC.

Article: Reduce Holiday Stress: 10 Tips for Children of Elderly Parents

2010-12-14T13:56:00.000-08:00

The Holiday season can be a stressful time for anyone, but it can be especially stressful if you are the caregiver of your elderly parent. I read a great article on AOL Health's section, about how to reduce stress during the Holidays:

"Caregiving is a 24-hour-a-day job. It's tough even during "normal" times of the year. With the holidays comes a whole load of responsibilities and demands. Shopping, baking, decorating, sending holiday cards, family gatherings, preparing for out-of-town guests. Even fighting for that coveted last parking spot at the mall can be stressful.

It can seem impossible to cope with your overburdened life. However, not only can you get through the holidays, but you can also enjoy them and create fond memories that will last a lifetime. Consider the following suggestions to ease stress during the holidays." Click HERE for the rest of the article.

Craig Christiansen
Pinnacle Quality Insight
www.mycahps.com

CMS Publishes New Deadline for Filing HHCAHPS Exemption Report

2010-11-30T13:39:00.000-08:00

CMS has published the official deadline for filing an exemption report. Those who are exempt from having to participate in HH-CAHPS are Home Health Agencies who have provided care to 59 or fewer UNDUPLICATED patients between April 1, 2009 and March 31, 2010. Their entire announcement is quoted below, and can be found on their website under the announcements section.

Craig Christiansen
Pinnacle Quality Insight

As recently announced in the 2011 Home Health Prospective System Payment Update Final Rule that was published in the Federal Register on November 17, 2010 (42 CFR 409, 418, 424 et al [17 November, 2010]), page 70409, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has extended the deadline for applying for an exemption from participating in the Home Health Care CAHPS (HHCAHPS) Survey for the calendar year (CY) 2012 annual payment update (APU) from June 16, 2010 to 11:59 PM Eastern Standard Time on January 21, 2011.

As announced in the 2010 Home Health Prospective System Payment Update Final Rule that was published in the Federal Register on November 10, 2009, Medicare-certified home health agencies that served 59 or fewer unduplicated patients between April 1, 2009 and March 31, 2010 who met survey eligibility criteria may request an exemption from participating in the HHCAHPS Survey for the CY 2012 APU. All such agencies are required to count the number of patients served during that 12-month period who met survey eligibility requirements and report the count to CMS via an online form on the HHCAHPS Web site at the following link: https://homehealthcahps.org/ForHHAs/ParticipationExemptionRequestForm.aspx

For more information about the HHCAHPS Survey, contact the HHCAHPS Survey Coordination Team via email at hhcahps@rti.org or call toll-free at (866) 354-0985.

Can you still sign up for HHCAHPS?

2010-11-02T10:34:00.000-07:00

Yes! Even though the deadline has passed, we can fill out an exemption report for you, and get you set up and ready. But contact us TODAY so we can get you started!! Don't miss out on 2% of your APU, just because of a slight oversight.

Craig Christiansen
Pinnacle Quality Insight
inquiries@mycahps.com
877-532-1233

Final Deadline for HH-CAHPS!

2010-10-19T09:54:00.000-07:00

October 21st is the final deadline for delivering patient information to your HH-CAHPS vendor in order to use September for your "Dry Run" month. September is the last possible month for the "Dry Run".

With that in mind, make sure to contact Pinnacle Quality Insight right away, we can get you up and running within a few minutes so you do not miss this important deadline. We don't know if there will be any available recourse if you don't get set up in time, but we do know it's better to be safe than sorry. So give us a call, we'll get you set up and on your way to full HH-CAHPS compliance within a few minutes!

Craig Christiansen
Pinnacle Quality Insight
801-293-0700

HHCAHPS--Time is running out!!

2010-09-20T16:20:00.000-07:00

We are in the 11th hour of finding your HHCAHPS provider. In order to be HHCAHPS compliant, you must select a provider and go through your "Dry Run" with your provider sometime 3rd quarter. Meaning, we are in the last possible month to get started...

To conduct a Dry Run this last month of the quarter, you provide care for your patients during the month of September, and your HHCAHPS survey vendor conducts the HHCAHPS surveys the NEXT month. You have until a little after halfway through October to deliver your patient names to your vendor for your Dry Run.

So the bottom line... choose your vendor ASAP, so they can get started on your "Dry Run" right away, so you don't risk non-compliance with the HHCAHPS regulations.

Pinnacle Quality Insight is here to help you towards full HHCAHPS compliance. We can get you started QUICKLY and EASILY so this is off your to-do list. We can be your HHCAHPS vendor--so give us a call or email, and we'll show you how we can get this going as soon as possible.

Craig Christiansen
Pinnacle Quality Insight
info@mycahps.com
877-532-1233

Deadline For Exempt Status Extended

2010-08-26T14:34:00.000-07:00

To those HHAs that provide care to less than 60 patients ANNUALLY, the deadline has been extended to apply for exempt status.

Meaning, if you provided care to fewer than 60 patients between April 1, 2009 and March 31, 2010, you can apply for exemption status.

The official policy is listed as follows:

"Medicare-certified home health agencies that serve fewer than 60 unduplicated Home Health Care CAHPS survey-eligible patients over the course of the 12-month period from April 1, 2009 through March 31, 2010 will be exempted from participating in the Home Health Care CAHPS Survey for the calendar year 2012 annual payment update (APU).

Agencies seeking this exemption must provide a count of the number of patients who meet survey eligibility requirements that their agency served between April 1, 2009 and March 31, 2010. The count of the number of patients who meet survey eligibility requirements must be reported by completing and submitting the online form below."

The full ruling and form for exemption can be found here.

For all of your HHCAHPS needs, contact one of our experts at Pinnacle Quality Insight. We can get you started with HHCAHPS quickly and easily. Give us a call or send us an email, and we'll have you up and running within a few minutes.

Craig Christiansen
inquiries@mycahps.com
877.532.1233

HHCAHPS Checklist

2010-08-17T12:24:00.000-07:00

I put together an HHCAHPS checklist some time ago. It includes all the necessary items you need to know, and to do in order to be HHCAHPS compliant. You can download it here.

Pinnacle Quality Insight is a CMS approved HHCAHPS vendor. We can help you reach full CMS compliance with HHCAHPS quickly and easily. In fact, all it takes is a phone call, and within about 20 minutes, we can get you up and running.

If you mention that you read this on my blog, I'll authorize your Pinnacle CAHPS rep to give you the first 2 months free.

Craig Christiansen
877-532-1233
Pinnacle Quality Insight
inquiries@mycahps.com

Important Reminder: Register for login credentials, and authorize your HHCAHPS vendor

2010-08-13T14:07:00.000-07:00

Now that we are in the middle of the official "Dry Run" for HHCAHPS, there are important steps that need to be taken in order to avoid problems for your HHCAHPS vendor and their submission of your Dry Run results.

Register for login credentials on homehealthcahps.org
Once you have your username and password on homehealthcahps.org login, and authorize your selected HHCAHPS as your agency's vendor.

I've included a graphic of what the homepage looks like--where CMS has placed a new link on the front page pointing you to instructions for obtaining login credentials:

These instructions are also listed under the tab on the grey bar "For HHAs".

Once the "Dry Run" CAHPS calls are completed and data is collected, your vendor will need to upload the data to CMS's server. If you have not authorized your vendor on homehealthcahps.org , the upload will be rejected. This has happened already, prompting CMS to issue a news update on 7/22/2010 .

I've quoted the two reasons CMS has rejected HHCAHPS Dry Run data:

"Some vendors have already had their data uploads rejected for the following reasons:

the home health agency (HHA) had not authorized the vendor to submit HHCAHPS Survey data on its behalf; or

the HHA had authorized the vendor to submit data on its behalf, but the start date entered on the online “Authorize a Vendor” form that the HHA completed was after the sample month entered on the data file that the vendor attempted to submit."

To read more about these two reasons, read the entire article at https://homehealthcahps.org/GeneralInformation/Announcements.aspx#072210a

Pinnacle Quality Insight is an approved HHCAHPS survey vendor. We are here to make your HHCAHPS experience EASY. For help on this topic, or anything else in becoming CAHPS compliant, call and speak to one of our HHCAHPS experts at (877) 532-1233, or email us at inquiries@mycahps.com

Craig Christiansen
Pinnacle Quality Insight

HHCAHPS Timeline and "Dry Run"

2010-07-06T14:24:00.000-07:00

Q3 of 2010 has finally arrived. And with its arrival comes the CMS Requirement for HHCAHPS compliance--to complete at least one month as a "Dry Run" with a CMS Approved HHCAHPS vendor during 3rd Quarter.

The purpose of a Dry Run is just like any dress rehearsal, to make sure that all systems are a go. A description found on CMS's website is as follows:

"Agencies will be required to conduct a dry run for at least 1 month in third quarter CY 2010, and to begin data collection on an ongoing basis in October 2010. The dry run can be for any month during third quarter 2010 and can be for 1, 2, or 3 months.... agencies will be required to submit dry run data from the third quarter of CY 2010 to the Home Health CAHPS Data Center by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on January 21, 2011.....Dry run survey results will not be publicly reported...."

I recommend you find your vendor as soon as possible, and conduct a dry run. The documented benefit of conducting a dry run is to make sure all systems work properly--but for you as an agency, the benefit is far more important. Though you may know how you are performing on other customer satisfaction surveys, it would be highly beneficial to know how you are doing on the HHCAHPS survey so you can make any changes necessary to the quality of care you give.

For additional information, contact one of our HHCAHPS experts at 877-532-1233, or info@mycahps.com.

Craig Christiansen

CMS News: Now Allowing Patient-idendifying Data

2010-04-07T16:22:00.000-07:00

Many HHA professionals that we have spoken with have expressed concern over the completely anonymous nature of the HHCAHPS survey. The question that keeps coming up is, "How can I solve a patient-specific problem if the survey is anonymous?"

Pinnacle Quality Insight and other vendors have brought this concern to CMS, and they have responded with a change to how it will be conducted, with a full article listed here.

"Some Medicare-certified home health agencies... have asked their approved Home Health Care CAHPS Survey vendor to provide them with survey responses linked to their patients’ names so that they can respond to and address any specific needs that their patients report during the HHCAHPS survey.... "

"Survey vendors can share a respondent’s survey responses linked to his or her name with the client HHA only if the patient (hereafter referred to in this document as “the respondent) gives the survey vendor permission to do so."

"This means that survey vendors who have a client HHA that wishes to have access to identifying information that would link a respondent’s name to his or her survey responses must include the transition statement and question shown below in the survey instrument used with sample members selected from that HHA."

This represents an enormous opportunity for HHAs to use HHCAHPS for loyalty building with patients. When a complaint arises, simply addressing it right away can go a long way to diffuse a concern from becoming something more serious like a complaint to the state, or a lawsuit.

Bear in mind, HHCAHPS can be just another expense to raise your blood pressure, OR you can treat it as the top-performing Health-Care companies do...an opportunity to improve your service image and foster loyalty with clients.

Craig Christiansen
www.mycahps.com

From our FAQs: What if my agency isn't large enough to do 300 HHCAHPS surveys per year?

2010-01-29T13:42:00.000-08:00

This is a question we have heard quite often lately. Many administrators and Directors of Nursing have heard that CMS wants 300 surveys completed per agency, but some agencies simply do not have the census to provide 300--even if we were to interview each patient twice.

The official response from CMS is:

“In the proposed rule and in this final rule, we emphasized that HHAs should target 300 completes annually which averages about 25 completes a month. However, we equally emphasized that smaller agencies that are unable to reach 300 survey completes by sampling should survey all HHCAHPS eligible patients. We will accept less than 300 survey completes annually if an agency is unable to achieve that number. Compliance is based on whether the agency did the survey and followed the protocols. It is not based on the number of patients that responded to the survey.”
http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/pdf/E9-26503.pdf
(See page 28 for the entire quote)

So, contract with an approved survey vendor, and they will complete as many surveys as possible.

For help with HHCAHPS, or to speak with an HHCAHPS expert, email inquiries@mycahps.com or call 801-293-0700.

Craig Christiansen
www.mycahps.com
www.pinnacleqi.com

Phone vs. Mailer for HHCAHPS

2010-01-04T16:47:00.000-08:00

Decisions... Decisions.

With 34 different vendors to choose from, one of the top questions to make your job easier in selecting a vendor is, "Do I want my patients called, mailed, or both.... or does it just flat out not matter to me?"

Some agencies like the personal touch of the phone call. Some agencies prefer the cheaper option of mailing. And some really don't care, just get it off their plate. We have run into all types of responses in speaking with administrators all over the country.

This post is intended to discuss the different options you have, and give a fair, balanced look at each one--in order to help you in your decision.

Disclaimer: Pinnacle Quality Insight is a phone-only vendor--but I'll still do my absolute DARNDEST to not show that bias.

1. Mailer Only: The mailer is the most popular option offered by the vendors. I'm not sure on exact numbers, but it seems like about 4 out of 5 vendors are mail-only option--if not higher. There are some polarizing pros and cons about mailers.

Pros: Overall less expensive, easier for those with hearing difficulties to give feedback
Cons: Impersonal, a longer delay in receiving results, more difficult for those with vision difficulties or joint pain

2. Phone Only: The phone-only approach is offered by a handful of vendors. If you want your patients called, this automatically makes the decision easier.

Pros: More personable, shows a more proactive approach to seeking feedback, gives patients with arthritis or vision difficulty an opportunity to voice their feedback, much easier for qualitative feedback, less likely to procrastinate the survey when they answer the phone.
Cons: Could be more expensive, more difficult for those with hearing loss.

3. Mixed Mode: Very few companies offer the mixed mode approach, which is where a patient is mailed, then called if the mailer isn't returned.

Pros: Could be higher response rate, able to contact people with vision difficulties who weren't able to fill out mailer, able to contact patients with hearing difficulties where a mailer would be a better fit.
Cons: So far, we've seen this as the most costly of the three options. The mailer can still seem impersonal, and the follow-up phone calls can come across like you are nagging them because they didn't do their assignment.

HHCAHPS can be used by Home Health Agencies as a valuable tool to grow their business. The key question agency owners and administrators need to consider, is how do they want to use it? If the desire is to have HHCAHPS send a strong service image about the agency and increase patient loyalty, then a phone interview would be the better option. If the desire is to just have the survey results to review and make changes, then either option would work.

For help with HHCAHPS, or to speak with an HHCAHPS expert, email inquiries@mycahps.com or call 801-293-0700.

--Craig Christiansen
www.mycahps.com
www.pinnacleqi.com

HH CAHPS Results on Home Health Compare

2009-12-16T15:05:00.000-08:00

Results will be published on medicare.gov under the Home Health Compare section. Here is a snapshot of what the scores of one of the composite measures will look like--in this case, communication.

For help with HHCAHPS, or to speak with an HHCAHPS expert, email inquiries@mycahps.com or call 801-293-0700.

--Craig Christiansen

www.mycahps.com

www.pinnacleqi.com

Final List of CMS-Required HH CAHPS Fields

2009-12-16T09:11:00.001-08:00

Because of the OASIS-C implementation, many of you have asked what CMS fields are required for HH CAHPS. The list CMS has given us in Appendix B of the Protocols and Guidelines manual includes OASIS-B fields, which are no longer relevant in 2010.

A final list of fields required for the HH CAHPS surveys will not be available until mid-January. We recently sent an email to CMS asking when the finalized list will be available including OASIS-C fields, and they replied with the following:

Thank you for your inquiry. The reference to the OASIS items in both OASIS B and OASIS C will be included in Chapter IV of the revised Protocols and Guidelines Manual (Version 2.0), which will be posted on the project website in mid-January 2010.
Regards,
Home Health Care CAHPS Survey Coordination Team

For help with HHCAHPS, or to speak with an HHCAHPS expert, email inquiries@mycahps.com or call 801-293-0700.

--Craig Christiansen

www.mycahps.com

www.pinnacleqi.com

Agency Responsibilities: What you need to do for HHCAHPS

2009-12-15T17:02:00.000-08:00

After all this talk about deadlines, timelines, Federal Registers, final rulings, Phone vs Mailers, and all the other sundry subjects of HHCAHPS, Administrators can feel a bit overwhelmed--thinking, "ok, out of all this information, what do I need to do for HH CAHPS?"

The simplest, and most important list of activities you as an agency need to focus on for HH CAHPS is as follows:

Contract with approved vendor--Our suggestion is to find a vendor that gives you monthly updates instead of quarterly.
Determine 1st “Service Month”--The Service Month is defined as the first month you work with the vendor. Calls or Mailers begin on the 21st of the month AFTER the service month.
Choose method for submitting patient data--Choose whether you want to send patient updates directly, or you prefer the vendor works directly with your software company.
Deliver patient updates each month, or the updates can come from your software company.
Avoid influencing patients in any way about how to answer.
Review survey results.
Register for login credentials at https://homehealthcahps.org and authorize approved vendor--Prior to 3rd quarter 2010

Once you have selected a vendor, they can walk you through the rest of the process.

For help with HHCAHPS, or to speak with an HHCAHPS expert, email inquiries@mycahps.com or call 801-293-0700.

--Craig Christiansen

www.mycahps.com

www.pinnacleqi.com

HH CAHPS Video Part 2: The Pinnacle Approach to HH CAHPS

2009-12-11T14:21:00.001-08:00

We've posted the second video on our 2 part series... So sit back, relax, and listen to the sweet sounds of Brady Carlsen!

For help with HHCAHPS, or to speak with an HHCAHPS expert, email inquiries@mycahps.com or call 801-293-0700.

--Craig Christiansen

www.mycahps.com

www.pinnacleqi.com

HH CAHPS Video Part 1: General Information

2009-12-11T12:15:00.000-08:00

We have posted a new video on HH CAHPS. This is part 1 of 2, covering General Information. Youtube's new rules are that it has to be less than 10 minutes--so I'm tad bit rushed, but you still get the HH CAHPS basics.

Enjoy!

For help with HHCAHPS, or to speak with an HHCAHPS expert, email inquiries@mycahps.com or call 801-293-0700.

--Craig Christiansen

www.mycahps.com

www.pinnacleqi.com

2 New HH CAHPS Webinars Scheduled

2009-12-09T15:09:00.000-08:00

We have 2 new general-information webinars scheduled.

1. Tuesday, December 22, 2009 at 10 AM MDT

Click on the following link to register:

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/211140242

2. Tuesday, January 8, 2010 at 2 PM MDT

Click on the following link to register:

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/657288554

On both webinars, we will be covering general HH CAHPS survey information, as well as the Pinnacle approach to HH CAHPS.

For help with HHCAHPS, or to speak with an HHCAHPS expert, email inquiries@mycahps.com or call 801-293-0700.

--Craig Christiansen

www.mycahps.com

www.pinnacleqi.com

HH CAHPS Survey Information: Composite Measures

2009-12-04T09:52:00.000-08:00

We receive a lot of questions about what will be on the HH CAHPS questionnaire. The HH CAHPS survey is comprised of 34 questions designed to do the following: collect composite measures about 3 areas of performance, and 2 global ratings of care. The questions regarding global ratings will be discussed in another entry, while this entry will focus on the composite measures.

Each composite measure has 4 or more questions about one of the following topics:

1. Patient care

2. Communications between providers and patients

3. Specific care issues (medications, home safety and pain)

Examples:

Question #3 is an example from the survey falling under the communication topic:

When you first started getting home health care from this agency, did someone from the agency talk with you about how to set up your home so you can move around safely?

Question 16 is an example from the survey related towards Patient Care:
In the last 2 months of care, how often did home health providers from this agency treat you as gently as possible?

Question 11 addresses medication:
In the last 2 months of care, did you take any new prescription medicine or change any of the medicines you were taking?
In conclusion, the HH CAHPS survey as it is currently written, doesn't allow for many open-ended comments or questions. Check with your vendor about the possibility of adding supplemental questions in order to increase the qualitative feedback from patients.

For help with HHCAHPS, or to speak with an HHCAHPS expert, email inquiries@mycahps.com or call 801-293-0700.

--Craig Christiansen
www.mycahps.com
www.pinnacleqi.com

Using HH-CAHPS to help your agency grow

2009-12-02T09:06:00.001-08:00

With HH-CAHPS being a requirement from CMS, many agencies are enrolling begrudgingly as if serving a sentence, while others are viewing this as an opportunity to be able to capture much more of the market share. Those that do this properly will not only have a public report touting the quality of their care, but have more loyal customers, employees, and perhaps increase the conversion rate of inquiries. HH-CAHPS should be seen as a way to help your agency rather than simply an expense you have to incur.

1. Use HH-CAHPS as another way to increase loyalty with existing clients: The HH-CAHPS can be seen as another way to show your clients you care about them, and it is largely your decision how that perception is managed. When existing patients ask about HH-CAHPS, explain to them that it is a way that you go out of your way to help them have a better experience with their care. When patients see how much you care about the quality of your care, their loyalty increases, and they are more likely to recommend you to others.

2. Bundle value-added services with HH-CAHPS: Many vendors provide other services that can be bundled as value-added products to increase your ROI. Perhaps they offer web promotion, and when packaged with HHCAHPS, it can be added with little or no extra charge. Ask your vendor what other services they provide, and if they can bundle those services together with HH-CAHPS as a value-added service.

3. Use HH-CAHPS to increase loyalty with your employees: If something negative about an individual member of your staff comes up in a survey, give feedback to them immediately and individually. Let inquiries know about the survey, and that you care about their careers and abilities. Give them suggestions on what they can improve, but always end on positive things they are doing well that you appreciate. When employees see that you sincerely care about their growth and development, their own loyalty will be increased and employee retention won't be a problem.

4. Use HH-CAHPS as a way to increase interest in your agency: When potential patients, or family members of patients call in to your agency, mention how serious you take quality assurance. You go out of your way to make sure the quality of your care is always top level.

5. Measure to improve, not to impress: Chapter 4 of Fred Lee’s book, If Disney Ran your Hospital, addresses this issue. It is tempting to use your positive results to promote yourself to your prospective clients. Once the HH-CAHPS requirement begins the market will be inundated with agencies boasting about their high satisfaction scores. While it is appropriate to explain the survey process is part of your commitment to provide the highest quality of care, patients can sense whether you are committed to their satisfaction or to your satisfaction scores. Focus on improvement and your customers will do the boasting for you.

For any additional questions, contact one of our HH-CAHPS experts at 801-293-0700 or at inquiries@mycahps.com

--Craig Christiansen

www.pinnacleqi.com

www.mycahps.com

Why should all agencies be asked to complete 300 surveys, regardless of agency size?

2009-12-01T10:55:00.000-08:00

We get a lot of questions regarding the fairness of the requirement to conduct 300 HHCAHPS Surveys. For example, why should a smaller agency of 400 patients be required to do 300 surveys (75% of their census) when a larger agency doing 300 surveys could be as low as 1% of their census?

Addressing this question, CMS issued the following statement on page 28 of the Federal Register, where they outlined the final ruling on HHCAHPS:

"We understand concerns about the sample size. In the practice of statistics however, it is established that the sample size in absolute numbers is more important than the proportion of the population surveyed. Surveying a sample of 300 will produce the same level of precision whether the sample is 10 percent, 1 percent or even 0.01 percent of the total population. We understand that 300 may be higher than achievable for some small agencies. However, the larger the sample (even if less than 300), the less the variability in an agency’s ratings over time. Therefore, in the final rule we are moving forward with the sample sizes for HHCAHPS as proposed."

In summary, it's not necessarily fair that 300 is required of a smaller agency. But in order to have more statistically reliable results, a larger number of survey results is necessary. And in the event that your agency isn't large enough to get the full 300, you are just asked to submit the full census to your approved vendor and they will complete as many as possible.

For help with HHCAHPS, or to speak with an HHCAHPS expert, email inquiries@mycahps.com or call 801-293-0700.

--Craig Christiansen

www.mycahps.com

www.pinnacleqi.com

What Patients qualify for the HHCAHPS Survey?

2009-11-23T09:06:00.000-08:00

Not all of your patients need to be included in the HHCAHPS Surveys. Under their "Final Rule" post, CMS lists the following criteria for patients:

Current or discharged patients who had at least one skilled care home health visit at any time during the sample month;
Patients who were at least 18 years of age at any time during the sample period, and are believed to be alive;
Patients who received at least two skilled care visits from HHA personnel during a 60-day look-back period. (Note that the 60-day look-back period is defined as the 60-day period prior to and including the last day in the sample month);
Patients who have not been selected for the monthly sample during any month in the current quarter or during the 5 months immediately prior to the sample month;
Patients who are not currently receiving hospice care;
Patients who do not have ‘‘maternity’’ as the primary reason for receiving home health care; and
Patients who have not requested ‘publicity status.'
Patients who do not have “maternity” as the primary reason for receiving home health care
Medicare/Medicaid patients only

For help with HHCAHPS, or to speak with an HHCAHPS expert, email inquiries@mycahps.com or call 801-293-0700.

--Craig Christiansen

www.mycahps.com

www.pinnacleqi.com

The Service Timeline for HH-CAHPS

2009-11-17T10:03:00.000-08:00

When deciding when to begin their HH-CAHPS services, some agencies are beginning early in order to have more months to improve the quality of their care before results are made public, and some agencies are delaying until it is mandatory. As you decide when to begin service, keep in mind the following Service Timeline:

Month one is the “Service Month”, where an agency provides care as usual.

The HHA has 21 days of month 2 to collect and submit patient information to their HH-CAHPS vendor.

Starting the 21st of the 2nd month, the approved HH-CAHPS vendor has 6 weeks to contact patients and conduct surveys with that month’s sample group.

Each month after the 2nd month, the HHA submits patient data to their approved vendor.

So for example, let's assume January 2010 is the determined “Service Month”. In this case, the HHA would have until February 21st to submit patient data to their approved vendor.

Starting February 21st, the vendor would begin contacting patients about their care provided in January and December of 2009—a 60 day look-back period. The vendor would have 6 weeks to conduct surveys, which would take them until approximately April 4th.

When determining your service month with your vendor, take into consideration that you will receive survey results approximately 3 months (or longer) after the Service Month. With mandatory participation starting in October, beginning in January gives you approximately 5-6 months of results in order to improve the quality of your care.

If your agency waits until the dry run to begin service, you will not have results to review before mandatory participation begins--and therefore run the risk of having lower scores than your competition.

For help with HHCAHPS, or to speak with an HHCAHPS expert, email inquiries@mycahps.com or call 801-293-0700.

--Craig Christiansen

www.mycahps.com

www.pinnacleqi.com

The HH-CAHPS Timeline

2009-11-11T09:52:00.000-08:00

The HH-CAHPS timeline is as follows:

Voluntary participation in HH-CAHPS begins in November 2009 and goes through June 2010, though we do not recommend you begin until January, so that the new data fields with OASIS-C can be used.

During third quarter 2010, HHAs are required to do a dry run for at least one month, and begin mandatory participation and ongoing data collection beginning in October. HHAs have until 11:59 PM January 21, 2011 to submit the Dry Run data to the Home Health CAHPS Data Center, and until April 21, 2011 to submit fourth quarter results.

When you begin your voluntary participation depends entirely on how soon you want results to review, and how many month’s worth you would like to have before your vendor is collecting results that will be published. The more months you have to make corrections to the quality of your care, the greater position your agency will be in when results are published.

Other facts to consider are how long it takes results, which will be published in our next entry.

For help with HHCAHPS, or to speak with an HHCAHPS expert, email inquiries@mycahps.com or call 801-293-0700.

--Craig Christiansen

www.mycahps.com

www.pinnacleqi.com

Why is HHCAHPS Mandatory In Order To Receive Full Medicare Reimursement?

2009-11-04T08:21:00.000-08:00

CMS has given 3 reasons for making the HHCAHPS Survey mandatory in order to receive full Medicare reimbursement:

It will produce comparable data on the patient’s perspective that will allow objective and meaningful comparisons between home health agencies on domains that are important to consumers.
Public reporting of survey results is designed to create incentives for agencies to improve their quality of care.
Public reporting will serve to enhance public accountability in health care by increasing the transparency of the quality of care provided in return for public investment.

Since the quality of care varies greatly from agency to agency, it became evident that an objective comparison system would be necessary.

The development of the HHCAHPS survey dates back to November 2001, when the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services announced the Quality Initiative. This was stated as a “commitment to ensure quality health care for all Americans through accountability and public disclosure.” The Quality Initiative was launched nationally in November 2002 for nursing homes and expanded in 2003 to the nation’s hospitals and home health care agencies.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, AHRQ, developed the HHCAHPS survey as we see it today after several rounds of cognitive testing. A field test was conducted in 2008 with 34 home health agencies to test the properties of the survey and finalize its content. The final HHCAHPS Survey was developed in the summer of 2008. To learn more about AHRQ’s family of surveys, visit their official website.

For help with HHCAHPS, or to speak with an HHCAHPS expert, email inquiries@mycahps.com or call 801-293-0700.

--Craig Christiansen

www.mycahps.com

www.pinnacleqi.com

What is HHCAHPS?

2009-10-28T08:27:00.000-07:00

HHCAHPS Is a survey specifically designed for Home Health Companies. CAHPS stands for Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems. The definition of CAHPS can be found on http://www.cms.hhs.gov/cahps/

“The term CAHPS refers to a comprehensive and evolving family of surveys that ask consumers and patients to evaluate the interpersonal aspects of health care. CAHPS surveys probe those aspects of care for which consumers and patients are the best and/or only source of information, as well as those that consumers and patients have identified as being important. CAHPS initially stood for the Consumer Assessment of Health Plans Study, but as the products have evolved beyond health plans, the acronym now stands for Consumer Assessment of Health Providers and Systems.”

HHCAHPS is a survey of 34 questions specifically about home health. As quoted on CMS’s official website, patients eligible for the HHCAHPS survey are those who are Medicare or Medicaid patients, and who:

are at least 18 years of age at time of service and their home health care;
have received at least two skilled care visits from agency personnel from April 1, 2009 through March 31, 2010;
were not discharged to hospice care during the time of service;
did not have “maternity” as the primary reason for receiving home health care; and
did not request a “no publicity status.”

For help with HHCAHPS, or to speak with an HHCAHPS expert, email inquiries@mycahps.com or call 801-293-0700.

--Craig Christiansen