Home Health & Hospice Week

Time is running out for you to complete your CAHPS practice session -- and avoid related financial penalties.

Home health agencies must complete a "dry run" for the Home Health Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems during the third quarter of 2010, which includes July, August,  and September, said the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in its July 7 Open Door Forum for home care providers. Data collected must be submitted to CMS by January. Routine CAHPS data collection will begin in October.

Background: HHAs that participate in the CAHPS program must contract with a third party vendor to conduct patient satisfaction surveys that include 34 core required questions and nine optional ones.

Agencies may also add their own unique questions to the tool. Providers must strive to obtain 300 survey completions per year.

Agencies that fail to participate in CAHPS will face a 2 percent reimbursement cut in 2012.

HHAs that do report CAHPS data will see that data on the Home Health Compare website, CMS's Lori Teichman reminded listeners. "The HH CAHPS dry run is an opportunity for HHAs to start collection of HH CAHPS data during the period when it will not be publicly reported on Home Health Compare," Teichman added. "HHAs may do the dry run for one, two, or three months in this third quarter 2010."

To participate, agencies need to contract with a vendor; register for credentials on the CAHPS website and print out, sign, notarize, and mail the related consent form; and prepare the monthly patient information file that will allow your vendor to collect and submit your data, Teichman said.

Do this: Agencies also should check the CAHPS website at www.homehealthcahps.org twice a week to keep up to date on CAHPS developments, Teichman recommended. "CMS would like to see a great participation in HH CAHPS," she said