FAQ’s

What is CAHPS? — CAHPS Stands for  Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems.  It is a family of standardized surveys that ask consumers and patients to report on and evaluate their experiences with health care.

What is the difference between HH-CAHPS, Patient Experience of Care (CG-CAHPS) and H-CAHPS? — The “HH” in front of CAHPS stands for Home Health Care CAHPS, the “CG” stands for Clinic, and the  “H” stands for Hospital CAHPS.  MRHC is an approved CMS vendor and administrators for HCAHPS, Patient Experience of Care Surveys (MN clinics) (CG-CAHPS) and HH CAHPS surveys.  

 Why is CAHPS important? — CAHPS Surveys are a standardized tool that allows results to be publicly reported.  The reasoning behind this is threefold:

1. Increase the transparency of the quality of care provided by hospitals, clinics and home health agencies
2. Provide incentives for agencies to improve the quality of care that they provide
3. Provide an avenue for the public to create “objective and meaningful comparisons between hospitals, clinics and home health agencies”

 Who is required to participate in the HH-CAHPS? — If you qualify as one of the following, you will be required to contract with a CMS- approved vendor for CAHPS administration:

• Medicare and Medicaid Certified Home Health Agencies
• Facilities that provide care to more than 60 non-duplicated Medicare/Medicaid patients annually
• Providers that have been assigned an ID number

Who is required to participate in the Patient Experience of Care Survey (CG-CAHPS)? – Minnesota based Clinics that have a MD or DO on staff and had 715 unique patient visits in the months of September, October and November of 2011.     

Who is required to participate in the H-CAHPS? –  All hospitals must participate in the HCAHPS with the exception of Critical Access Hospitals.  However, in Minnesota a Critical Access hospital that has a census of 500 admissions per year must participate in the HCAHPS.

How are CAHPS Surveys administered? — CAHPS surveys can be conducted by mail only, by phone only, or by a “mixed” mode, a combination of mail and phone.  MRHC conducts mail only surveys, as historically this mode is both the most economical and has the highest return rate thus is usually the preferred method.

What is MRHC’s average response rate of Mail Only Surveys? — We experience a 40 – 50% return rate.  The average or standard return rate for mail only surveys is 30%. We attribute this to our timeliness in sending out the survey following the patient visit and customizing the cover letter, survey and envelope with each facilities logo to increase facility recognition for the patient.

How many Patient Experience of Care (CG CAHPS) surveys need to be administered? — Each clinic that meets the threshold as set by MN Deptartmet of Health is required to send out 715 surveys.  It is expected that there will be at least 300 completed surveys each mandated year.    Facilities will see how they rate with other facilities that MRHC administers the surveys for as well as a comparison to all clinics or hospitals in Minnesota and Nationally if available.

How will results be reported? – MN Department of Health will have  a website in the fall of 2013 after they have gathered one year’s worth of data, results will be posted. 

When do we need to start? – MRHC is currently accepting facilities for all CAHPS.

CG – CAHPS

• April 2 2012 through July 16, 2012 – Identify CMS approved vendor and designate the vendor and your facilty contact information in the MNCM’s data portal. Contact MRHC to begin the participation agreement process. Submit presurvey validation documentation to test the process of sampling patients.
• September 1, 2012 through February 24, 2013 – Provide a data file of all patient visits eligable for survey to your vendor.
• February 25 through March 29, 2013 your survey vendor will submit all final survey data for each clinic and their medical group clients. Survey vendor will upload the data to the MNCM data portal along with additional post survey documentation. A report from the vendor will be emalied to the appropriate facilty contact

HHCAHPS

• Upon completion of Participation Agreement and authorizing us as a vendor on website survey process will begin, typically most facilities start with the first month of a qurater

HCAHPS

• Upon completion of Participation Agreement and authorizing us as a vendor on website survey process will begin, typically most facilities start with the the first month of a quarter

Can I sign up with MRHC for the Patient Experience of Care (CG-CAHPS), HCAHPS or HH-CAHPS Program today? — Yes, we are currently accepting new Minnesota based clinics, hospitals and home health agencies.  Call us  at 877.481.6251 ext 214 or fill out our contact form to get signed up today.

What is the pricing for your CAHPS Program? — At MRHC we have an annual fee and a per piece mailing fee.  There are no setup charges. For special reporting requests request, contat us. For specific pricing contact us at 877-481-6251 or email surveysupport@mrhc.net