In-center Hemodialysis Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (ICH-CAHPS) Survey

Fields Research can ensure your in-center hemodialysis facility meets the CMS requirements for patient experience surveying, thereby avoiding a penalty on your CMS reimbursements.

ICH-CAHPS and CMS Requirements

The Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems In-Center Hemodialysis (ICH-CAHPS) Survey is used to publicly report patients’ experiences with Medicare-certified dialysis facilities.

ICH-CAHPS surveying is a required component of Medicare’s End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Quality Incentive Program (QIP), part of CMS’s Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) initiative linking payment to quality of care. All in-center hemodialysis facilities (ICHs) serving 30 or more survey-eligible hemodialysis patients annually are required to participate in ICH-CAHPS. Facilities that do not meet established CMS standards will have their payments lowered by up to two percent for the entire year.

Medicare’s End-Stage Renal Disease Prospective Payment System (ESRD PPS) final rule for fiscal year 2014, including the quality incentive program, may be viewed in the Federal Register here.

Survey Overview

The ICH-CAHPS Survey aims to measure and improve patient-centeredness of care. It produces six quality reporting measures of patient experience:

• Global Ratings
  • Ratings of kidney doctors
  • Ratings of dialysis center
  • ratings of dialysis center staff
• Composites
  • Nephrologists' communication and caring
  • Quality of dialysis center care and operations
  • Providing information to patients

     

The ICH-CAHPS survey is intended for patients over 18-years-old receiving outpatient hemodialysis for three or more months.

Pricing and Payment Terms

Fields Research will conduct your surveys for as low as $750* per period depending on your patient count plus a one-time setup fee of $50. CMS's target is 200 completed surveys for each 12 month reporting period. If your patient count does not allow for that quantity, we will charge a lower period fee based on your patient census.

No additional cost for Spanish.

*If you have multiple facilities, please contact us for special setup pricing.

You pay a simple flat rate (shown above) and a one-time setup fee of $50. That’s it... NO other charges, period. After the setup is paid, half is due at the start of the data collection process and the remainder at the end of data collection. If you would like to have Fields Research handle your compliance, sign up today.

Why Phone Mode

Fields Research will utilize telephone only mode. Telephone generally produces a higher response rate than mail only, and is more cost effective than a mixed methodology. Telephone provides more complete and reliable data, as it is automated by computer, but administered by well-trained telephone research interviewers, resulting in no skipped questions and fewer 'don't know' responses. It is our opinion that disgruntled patients will fill out a mail survey at a higher rate than content ones.

We provide bi-lingual interviewers at no additional cost to handle calls to your Spanish speaking patients.

Why Fields Research

Our process and price are simple and straightforward. We are a family owned and operated business. We are one of the longest standing data collection firms in the United States with over 35 years of conducting surveys. We specialize in data collection - we don't have the added expense of extra layers of personnel that the 'full service' consulting companies have, requiring them to pass on additional overhead costs, even to clients who simply want to comply with the CMS requirement.

Fields Research offers a simple flat fee per month with a small one-time setup fee. There are no 'cost per survey' or 'cost per patient' charges that many vendors charge in addition to large initial contract fees. You don't have to 'trade-up' or choose a more expensive 'package' to see your data in a useful way - we provide free on-line and off-line viewing.

We are currently helping over 600 agencies comply with CAHPS Survey requirements – let us help you.

Our Commitment and Technology:

Fields Research guarantees total compliance with all data collection and reporting requirements necessary for the ICH-CAHPS surveys and submissions. In addition, we provide free on-line and off-line reporting.

For more information, please call Ken Fields at (513) 821-6266 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

For more information about CAHPS visit the official In-Center Hemodialysis CAHPS website: ichcahps.org