[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 88 (Monday, May 9, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24425-24426]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-9179]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality


General Testing of the CAHPS Hospital Survey (HCAHPS[reg])

AGENCY: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), DHHS.

ACTION: Notice of request.

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SUMMARY: The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is 
providing the opportunity for hospitals, vendors, and other interested 
parties to voluntarily test the 27-item Hospital CAHPS (HCAHPS[reg]) 
instrument suggested by the National Quality Forum's Review Committee. 
The purpose of this project is to provide another opportunity to the 
hospital industry to use the revised draft of the HCAHPS[reg] 
instrument with the option to add items to the instrument, if desired. 
It should be noted that the HCAHPS[reg] instrument may undergo further 
refinement prior to finalization for the national implementation effort 
as a result of the National Quality Forum (NQF) Consensus process. In 
effect, this project provides an occasion to test items that survey 
vendors, hospitals, and others wish to add to the HCAHPS[reg] 
instrument and to evaluate the impact of integrating HCAHPS into the 
instruments currently being used, as well as to try out and evaluate 
the

[[Page 24426]]

methods of data collection prior to national implementation of 
HCAHPS[reg].
    After permission to use the instrument is granted by AHRQ, a site 
or sites may field the instrument until the start of the ``dry run'' of 
the survey, which is expected in the Summer/Fall of 2005. As part of 
the dry run, hospitals and vendors will begin collecting HCAHPS data 
and transmitting it to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services 
(CMS), but it will not be publicly reported.
    For more information about this project or to download an 
application for authorization, please visit the CAHPS User Network Web 
site at http://www.cahps-sun.org.

DATES: Please submit requests on or before June 8, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Requests for permission to use the suggested 27-item 
HCAHPS[reg] instrument, to add items, and field test the instrument may 
be submitted either in electronic format or a via facsimile 
communication. Applications can be sent in letter form, preferably with 
an electronic file on a 3\1/2\ inch floppy disk as a standard word 
processing format or as an e-mail with an attachment. Responses should 
be submitted to: Marybeth Farquhar, RN, MSN, Agency for Healthcare 
Research and Quality, Center for Quality Improvement and Patient 
Safety, 540 Gaither Road, Rockville, MD 20850, E-mail: [email protected].
    In order to facilitate handling of submissions, please include full 
information about the person requesting permission for testing: (a) 
Name, (b) title, (c) organization, (d) mailing address, (e) telephone 
and fax numbers, and (f) e-mail address.
    Other requested information includes: (a) List of the hospital in 
which HCAHPS[reg] will be used (including city and State); (b) sample 
size for each hospital; (c) intended mode of administration; (d) length 
of time after discharge the initial contact with the patient will be 
made; (e) name of vendor (if any) that will be administering the 
HCAHPS[reg] survey; (f) proposed dates for fielding; (g) whether items 
will be added to the HCAHPS[reg] survey and how many; and, (h) a copy 
of the proposed questionnaire (Additional Items should be placed 
following HCAHPS question 22, and before the ``About You'' section of 
the questionnaire). Electronic requests are encouraged.
    To help in the evaluation of the suggested 27-item version of 
HCAHPS[reg], AHRQ and CMS are asking participants to submit a brief 
summary of their experience with administering the HCAHPS[reg] survey, 
including sampling and survey data collection procedures. An analysis 
of the psychometrics of the instrument should also be provided.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marybeth Farquhar, Center for Quality 
Improvement and Patient Safety, Agency for Healthcare Research and 
Quality, 540 Gaither Road, Rockville, MD 20850; Phone: (301) 427-1317; 
Fax: (301) 427-1341; E-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has been a 
leading supporter of the development of instruments for measuring 
patient experiences within the healthcare system of the United States. 
As the research partner of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services 
(CMS), AHRQ is charged with the development of a hospital patient 
experience of care instrument as well as the development of reporting 
strategies to maximize the utility of the survey results.
    The mutual goal of AHRQ and CMS is to develop a standardized 
instrument for use in the public reporting of patients' hospital 
experiences that is reliable and valid, freely accessible, and that 
will make comparative non-identifiable information on patients' 
perspectives on their hospital care widely available. While there are 
many survey tools available to hospitals, there is currently no 
nationally used or universally accepted survey instrument that allows 
comparisons across all hospitals. In response to, and at the request of 
CMS, AHRQ under the CAHPS[reg] II Cooperative Agreement with three 
Grantee organizations developed an initial instrument with input from 
the various stakeholders in the industry. The initial draft of the 
HCAHPS[reg] instrument was tested as part of a CMS three-State pilot by 
hospitals in Arizona, Maryland, and New York. Based on an analysis of 
the resulting data, the instrument was revised and shortened. 
Additional testing of the shortened instrument was completed and AHRQ 
presented its recommendations to CMS in November 2004. In December, CMS 
submitted the HCAHPS instrument to the National Quality Forum (NQF) to 
undergo the formal consensus process required for endorsement. The 
committee that reviewed the HCAHPS survey and supporting materials 
recommended the addition of two items to the survey. The survey then 
went out for comment by the NQF membership and the public. The 
membership and board vote on HCAHPS endorsement is currently 
proceeding.
    Once the HCAHSP[reg] survey is finalized, it will be posted on the 
AHRQ and CMS websites for use by interested individuals and 
organizations. Plans have been made to make the HCAHPS instrument 
available to the Hospital Quality Alliance, which is a public/private 
partnership that includes the major hospital associations, government, 
consumer groups, measurement and accrediting bodies, and other 
stakeholders interested in reporting on hospital quality. In the first 
phase of the partnership (which has already begun), hospitals are 
voluntarily reporting the results of their performance on ten clinical 
quality measures for three medical conditions: acute myocardial 
infarction, heart failure, and pneumonia. HCAHPS[reg] reporting will 
comprise an additional and differently focused phase of quality of care 
measurement. For more information or to participate in the Quality 
Initiative, please visit http://www.aha.org under ``Quality and Patient 
Safety, Quality Initiative,'' or at http://www.fah.org, under ``Issue/
Advisories,'' or at http://www.aamc.org by going to ``Government 
Affairs,'' ``Teaching Hospitals'' and then ``Quality.''

    Dated: April 27, 2005.
Carolyn M. Clancy,
Director.
[FR Doc. 05-9179 Filed 5-6-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-90-M