PRAsummaryHHCAHPS12-2010

CAHPS Home Health Care Survey

OMB Control Number: 0938-1066

Revised PRA Package Submission

Summary Statement:

This is a revised PRA package because it now includes the burden to the home health HHAs to contract with an approved HHCAHPS survey vendor to administer the HHCAHPS survey on their behalf.

There are NO other changes in 0938-1066.

Explanation:

There are about 11,800 Medicare-certified home health agencies (HHAs). About 2,000 HHAs (roughly) will be exempt from participating in HHCAHPS because they are very small (they serve less than 60 eligible HHCAHPS patients per year).

The HHAs have some burden in the HHCAHPS that was NOT included in the original (new) PRA collection package that was approved by OMB on 7-18-09.

The HHAs must do the following in regard to HHCAHPS:

• Contract with an approved HHCAHPS survey vendor to administer the HHCAHPS survey on their behalf;

• Register for credentials to access the private secure links on the HHCAHPS website, https://homehealthcahps.org;

• File a Consent Form;

• Mail the completed, signed, and notarized Consent Form to the CMS/HHCAHPS Coordination Team;

• Authorize an approved HHCAHPS survey vendor to collect and submit the HHCAHPS survey data to the Data Center;

• Stay informed about HHCAHPS by periodically checking the website, and the data submission reports;

• Most importantly, by preparing a monthly patient information file containing information that the HHCAHPS survey vendor needs for sampling and fielding the HHCAHPS survey; and

• Submit the monthly patient information file to the HHCAHPS survey vendor by the data specified or agreed to by the HHCAHPS vendor that is under contract to the HHA.

CMS estimates that there are 9,890 HHAs that could be affected by this. CMS estimates that for each HHA there is 16 hours of work. Therefore, there is 158,240 hours of burden for the 9,890 HHAs.

Regarding the cost to the HHAs, CMS estimates that annually it will cost $4,000 to contract an HHCAHPS survey vendor and to also have someone in the HHA to supply the monthly patient file information to the HHCAHPS survey vendor, so that the survey sample can be drawn and the survey can be fielded. Therefore $4,000 times 9,890 HHAs equals $39,560,000. The annual cost burden of HHCAHPS to the universe of HHAs is $39,560,000. CMS used the estimate that was of a high cost, since a good number of HHAs may be paying their HHCAHPS vendors far less than $4,000 a year to conduct HHCAHPS.