Advantages of CAHPS Survey

Home Health Notify helps achieve 5-star ratings

Home Health Industry in the US has a market size of $110 billion. There are 431,454 Home Care Providers businesses in the US as in 2021, an increase of 3.8% from 2020. The number of businesses in the Home Care Providers industry in the US has grown 3.7% per year on average over the five years between 2016 – 2021. Texas (4,204 businesses), California (3,423 businesses) and Florida (2,682 businesses) are the States with the most number of Home Care Providers businesses in the US according to www.ibisworld.com/industry-statistics/number-of-businesses/home-care-providers-united-states/

The remarkable share of Home Health Industry initiated the government to regulate and assess all the players in the industry. The Centre for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) requested the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to create a survey in order to better evaluate and understand the quality of care provided by home health care agencies. In January 2015, AHRQ developed Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) Hospice Survey, which follows scientific principles of survey design and development. The well-researched exhaustive process of data collection was derived through Interviews, formative research, Input from experts, cognitive testing, field tests and endorsement of national quality forum.

STAR RATINGS

As a result of CAHPS Hospice survey, CMS created Quality of Patient Care Star Ratings to help provide transparency to consumers, by comparing the quality of care delivered by various Home Health Agencies (HHAs). The Star Ratings summarize certain data about the quality of home health care provided by various HHAs in a format that is easy to view and understand. The ratings are posted on www.medicare.gov: the official U.S. government site for Medicare, a primary tool to assist consumers choose a home health care provider.

There are two types of home health star ratings:

Quality of Patient Care Star Ratings: The Quality of Patient Care (QoPC) Star Rating is based on OASIS assessments and Medicare claims data. These ratings were first posted in July 2015 and is updated on quarterly bases.
Patient Survey Star Ratings: Patient Survey Star Ratings are based on the Home Health CAHPS Survey. They were first posted on January 2016 and is updated quarterly.

All Medicare-certified HHAs need to participate for Quality of Patient Care Star Rating. For this it is mandatory for HHAs to provide data for at least 20 complete quality episodes for each measure to be reported on Care Compare. Episodes must have an end-of-care date within the 12-month reporting period regardless of the start date, to have a Quality of Patient Care Star Rating computed. Each HHA gets preview reports showing the Patient Survey star ratings about one month before the ratings are posted on Care Compare. Agencies have a few weeks to review and request alterations with supporting documents and proof.

How does it benefit HHAs?

The Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) Hospice Survey empowers Home Health Agencies by attracting referral sources, driving business growth, and sustaining compliance requirements from their state departments of health as well as the federal Centre for Medicare Services. As value-based systems continue to impact the healthcare industry, publicly reported data becomes increasingly beneficial to organizations with optimal survey scores as they accrue referrals and industry partnerships.

CMS believes, the CAHPS Hospice Survey delivers valuable insights to the organizations for ongoing efforts to improve patient and family experiences. Additionally, Star Ratings stimulates improvement in the quality of care provided and incentivizes HHAs to maintain quality.

The survey play an important role as a quality improvement (QI) tool for health care organizations that use the standardized data to :

Identify relative strengths and weaknesses in their performance.
Determine where they need to improve.
Track their progress over time.
Cultivate an environment that encourages and sustains quality improvement.

Optimizing scores on the CAHPS Hospice Survey is ultimately based on an organization’s ability to deliver a patient- and family-centred care experience. This keeps the HHAs on toes as they are reviewed and examined consistently. Predictions of strong and steady revenue growth over the five years, as the COVID-19 pandemic subsides and an aging population feels more comfortable utilizing industry services. The aging population will likely continue to foster revenue growth because this demographic not only requires more healthcare services compared with other age groups, but it also increasingly prefers home care. Payers are expected to progressively shift to home care because it is more affordable than inpatient care.

How Home Health Notify helps achieve 5-Star Ratings?

Improved patient care is the ultimate goal for every Home Health Agency. Early detection coupled with Effective intervention results in Improved patient outcomes. The golden rule for agencies, is to focus on improved patient care through efficient processes for consistent proficiency and results. This will eventually lead them to 5-star ratings on the CAHPS Hospice Survey.

Home Health Notify (HHN), has tailor designed communication tools to facilitate improved patient outcomes and prevents hospitalizations by early detection and immediate intervention. HHN works with all EMRs efficiently and proves to be the Catalyst you have been seeking to improve the work efficiency of your staff and instil culture of accountability through:

Organised detailed documentation
Progress chart of the patient from SOC
Clear Communication channels which can be recorded for audit

HHN’s advanced communication tools not only makes the intervention with patients very detailed yet quick but also keeps the clinicians abreast with all the critical information. The group of clinicians, physicians and patients, working as a team especially during emergencies is a sure shot winner. Smiling patients and stress-free clinicians are a dream come true for a Home Health Agencies. HHN strives to aim towards this goal.

Home Health Notify (HHN) can transform and escalate the efficiency of your agency. We will be happy to explain, HOW? To learn more, schedule a free Demo of the App!