The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) deadline is 5:00 PM on September 22 for selection of a Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS®) Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) Survey Vendor. Starting in 2015, this is a mandatory CMS requirement for group practices of 100 or more providers participating in the PQRS program.
What is CAHPS and who is required to participate?
The CAHPS Survey was developed by CMS for group practices participating PQRS. It is designed to collect information about patient experience and care within group practices. The yearly CAHPS for PQRS Survey consists of survey mailings and follow-up phone calls to measure key aspects of Medicare beneficiaries’ experiences.
In 2015, survey administration is required for all group practices of 100 or more eligible providers (EPs) who register for PQRS by June 30, 2015. The survey is optional for group practices of 2-99 EPs.
What is the deadline about and is there a penalty for non-compliance?
The deadline applies to the CMS requirement for CAHPS participants to select a “qualified survey vendor” to conduct the survey on behalf of the group practice. Group practices with 100 or more EPs who fail to meet the CAHPS requirement in 2015 are subject to a 2% Medicare payment adjustment in 2017.
See here for detailed information from CMS on CAHPS for PQRS.