HCAHPS
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently issued a final rule that requires hospitals to report consistent measures on patient satisfaction with hospital care to receive a full IPPS payment update beginning in FY 2008.

What this final rule means is:
In order to receive the full CMS market basket update, hospitals must collect patient satisfaction data, using the CAHPS Hospital Survey (HCAHPS) tool, beginning in July of 2007.

• Many hospitals nationwide have completed the 2006 HCAHPS Dry Run and are participating in National Implementation, the first nine-month period of survey administration and public reporting that began this fall.
  
  
• Hospitals that are not participating in National Implementation, but wish to seek full Medicare reimbursement, must participate in the March 2007 Dry Run. The Myers Group is now contracting with hospitals for the 2007 Dry Run and for the 2007-2008 National Reporting Period.

Call Center Satisfaction

A health plan’s customer service department is often where the rubber meets the road for members. Clients can change their primary care doctor or specialist, but they can’t bypass the customer service department unless they change health plans.

The Myers Group has a proven means to evaluate the performance and ability of a health plan’s customer service department to resolve member issues. The Call Center Satisfaction Survey, a drill down to the CAHPS survey, targets a sampling of customers who have called the Customer Service Department within a defined period of time. Once survey results are presented and improvements are implemented, the customer service composite score in the CAHPS 4.0H survey can be directly impacted.

For more information on HCAHPS or Call Center Satisfaction, call 770-978-3173, ext. 358.