CAHPS®--Hemodialysis Patient Experience of Care SurveyBackground CMS, in partnership with the Agency for the Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is developing a CAHPS® patient experience of care survey for ESRD patients, focusing on hemodialysis patients in chronic renal dialysis facilities. The term CAHPS® refers to a comprehensive and evolving family of survey instruments that are designed to capture the experiences of consumers and patients with a range of health care products and services. By providing consumers with standardized data and presenting it in a way that is easy to understand and use, CAHPS® is intended to help people make decisions that support better health care and better health. AHRQ and the CAHPS® Grantees: Harvard, RAND, American Institute of Research and Westat, have been involved in the development and testing of CAHPS® instruments for health plans, home health organizations, hospitals, and nursing homes, among others. Questionnaire Development Process A Feasibility Report published by AHRQ in October 2003 recommended that CMS develop a standardized survey focusing on the in-center hemodialysis patient population. The conclusions of this report were based on information from the following sources: - A literature review and examination of ESRD surveys (May, 2003)
- Focus groups with patients and their family members (September, 2003)
- Focus groups with nephrologists (September, 2003)
- Interviews with network executive directors and facility staff (August, 2003) and,
- Technical expert panel meetings, representing a variety of stakeholders, including representatives from facilities, networks, the research and provider communities, and patients where the issues involved in developing a patient experience of care survey for this population were discussed (June 2003 and October, 2003).
In anticipation of developing a survey, AHRQ also posted a formal call for measures in a Federal Register Notice published August 25, 2003 and received public comments through October 24, 2003. For the OMB approval process, a Federal Register Notice was published on January 30, 2004, describing the ESRD CAHPS® pilot study plans. A second Federal Register Notice required for the OMB process was posted on July 23, 2004. OMB clearance was received on December 31, 2004. The In-Center Hemodialysis (ICH) CAHPS survey will undergo pilot testing during the first quarter of 2005. ESRD Network Activities CMS is committed to the quality of care its Medicare beneficiaries receive through the continuum of care. CMS has undertaken a number of initiatives to encourage beneficiaries to be active participants in their health care and to make informed health care decisions. The following are current Network activities (available in the download section) focused on patient centered care: Patient Safety, End of Life, Patient/Provider Conflict Resolution, Dialysis Care: Communication for Quality Training Modules.
Page Last Modified: 12/14/2005 12:00:00 AM
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