Annual Update of the HHCAHPS QAP Due in April
folder_openOther Announcementscalendar_todayPosted March 20, 2013

Home Health Care CAHPS (HHCAHPS) Survey vendors are advised that the 2013 annual update of the Quality Assurance Plan (QAP) is due to the HHCAHPS Coordination Team on or before 5:00 PM Eastern Time on April 30, 2013. Vendors must submit their QAP online at the HHCAHPS Web site. Survey vendors are requested to follow these procedures in submitting their annual update:

• Locate the version of your most recently approved QAP; that is, the version that was accepted by CMS and the Coordination Team. Make a copy of that version and accept all tracked changes, creating a clean copy of the QAP.

• Make any updates to your clean copy using track changes, and submit your update. The document you submit with track changes should therefore reflect only revisions made from your most recently approved QAP.

• Make updates to your QAP if your organization has had changes in HHCAHPS Survey personnel, changes to protocols or procedures, and/or changes in approved survey mode.

• If your QAP does not follow the format shown in the Model QAP included in the Protocols and Guidelines Manual, Version 5.0, please organize the information in your updated QAP to match the format shown in the Model QAP. 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 HHCAHPS Survey protocols disseminated via announcements posted on the HHCAHPS Web site and/or described in the Protocols and Guidelines Manual, Version 5.0.

Remember that you must update your online Vendor Participation Form prior to submitting your updated QAP if you are dropping or adding survey modes and/or have made personnel changes named in your Participation Form.

If you have any questions about this announcement, please contact the HHCAHPS Survey Coordination Team via e-mail at hhcahps@rti.org or call toll-free at (866) 354-0985.