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Announcement

Clarification of Protocol for HHAs Administering Other Surveys, in Addition to HHCAHPS
folder_openChanges to Protocols and Guidelines, Information for Home Health Agenciescalendar_todayPosted August 7, 2015

CMS and the HHCAHPS Coordination Team are issuing the following clarification to the protocol described in pages 37-38 of the HHCAHPS Survey Protocols and Guidelines Manual, Version 7.0, regarding how vendors should work with HHAs that administer other surveys in addition to HHCAHPS.

Due to the promise of confidentiality stated in the HHCAHPS Survey cover letters and the nature of care that this population receives (ongoing from their provider), HHCAHPS Survey vendors are not permitted to share with their HHA clients the identities of patients who are sampled for HHCAHPS each month.

This announcement is being issued because the following protocol statement in the manual is not clear: "Approved HHCAHPS Survey vendors are expected to work closely with their client HHAs to identify patients who are eligible for inclusion in other surveys the agencies conduct." This statement is only applicable if the HHCAHPS Survey vendor is administering all "other surveys" for their client in addition to the HHCAHPS Survey.

For HHAs that are self-administering surveys in addition to participating in HHCAHPS, the HHA has two options:

  • It can select a sample of patients for the other surveys with the understanding that some patients may be sampled for both the HHCAHPS and the other surveys; OR
  • It can remove from the sample frame (for the other surveys) patients who responded to the HHCAHPS Survey for that sample month who gave their consent to link their name with their responses.

It is up to the HHA to evaluate-based on the size, frequency, and purpose of the other survey(s) it conducts-whether to potentially sample their patients more than once or engage the services of their HHCAHPS Survey vendor to ensure that patients sampled for the HHCAHPS are not also sampled for their other surveys. HHAs should also note that conducting additional surveys with the same patient population as HHCAHPS may lower HHCAHPS survey response rates due to respondent survey fatigue.

Please contact the HHCAHPS Coordination Team via e-mail at hhcahps@rti.org or call toll-free at (866) 354-0985 if you have any questions.